Given name & surname
Long
“resembling a dragon”
Long is used as a given name and a surname. One Chinese interpretation is “resembling a dragon.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Chinese interpretation is “resembling a dragon.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Chinese.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1975. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Long through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,909
- 1,909 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1988
- 133 babies
- 2025
- 5
- #13,152 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +43%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 5 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 13,152 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 133 in 1988. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 11,343 as a first name in 2020; 223,485 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Long’s family of names
In English usage, Long as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Ryu. Long has a related form in Lang. Long has a related form in Longe.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Long has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Chinese roots to each of them.
3 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Long
- Ma LongChinese table tennis playerborn 1988
- Chen LongChinese badminton playerborn 1989
- He Longmarshal of the People's Republic of China (1896–1969)
- Gongsun LongChinese philosopher of the 3rd century BCE of the School of Names324 BC–249 BC
- Emperor Shang of Haninfant emperor of the Han dynasty during 106105–106
- Zheng LongChinese footballerborn 1988
- Tan LongChinese footballerborn 1988
- Yu LongChinese conductorborn 1964
- Jin LongChinese snooker playerborn 1981
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Long, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Zong
Zong is a surname from Chinese.
81% boys · 19% girls
Fong
Fong is a surname from Cantonese, ultimately from Taishanese.
98% boys · 2% girls
Nong
Nong is a surname from Mandarin.
>99% boys
Kong
“a bright man; from heaven”
>99% boys
Cong
“a clever girl” · “a clever man”
>99% boys
Yang
“of the sun”
>99% boys
Cheng
Cheng is a surname from Cantonese, ultimately from Mandarin. It is used in English, French, and Tagalog.
>99% boys
Lan
“resembling an orchid”
76% boys · 24% girls