Fun Facts About the Name Hung
- More than 1 thousand babies named Hung: U.S. records list 1,018 babies given the name Hung from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Hung Mean?
Hung is an English spelling of the Vietnamese given name Hùng. It comes from the Sino-Vietnamese reading of the Chinese character 雄 (hùng), whose basic meaning is "male," especially of birds and animals. From that literal sense came the extended meanings "strong," "brave," "heroic," and "outstanding." In Vietnamese, the word appears in compounds such as anh hùng ("hero") and hùng mạnh ("powerful"), and the given name is conventionally understood to mean "heroic" or "brave." The character 雄 combines the bird radical 隹 with a phonetic element, so its original image is a male bird; the name meaning is the customary extension, not a literal translation of "bird."
A separate origin for the spelling Hung is Cantonese romanization. In Cantonese, Hung can represent 雄 (hung4, "male, heroic") or 洪 (hung4, "flood, vast"), as well as other characters. The Cantonese form is based on Cantonese pronunciation, not Vietnamese; when it stands for 雄, it carries the same heroic sense, while 洪 has a different meaning and is more commonly a surname than a given name. The spellings look alike but belong to different naming systems.
Hung Name History & Origins
The Vietnamese name Hùng belongs to the Sino-Vietnamese layer of the language. As Vietnamese absorbed Chinese vocabulary over centuries of Chinese cultural and political influence, it also adopted Chinese characters with Vietnamese pronunciations; 雄 became hùng. In modern Vietnamese writing, the name is normally written Hùng with a tone mark. The English spelling Hung drops that mark, which is common when Vietnamese names are written in Latin-script countries. The name appears in the traditional title Hùng Vương, the "Hùng kings," the legendary rulers of Văn Lang in Vietnamese origin stories. Those accounts are traditional rather than fully documented history, but they gave the word hùng a lasting association with heroic leadership. As a given name, Hùng is used for men.
In Cantonese contexts, Hung is a romanization of Chinese characters read in Cantonese. The form follows Cantonese pronunciation and often omits tone marks, so Hung may stand for 雄 (hung4) or 洪 (hung4), among others. This Cantonese use developed separately from the Vietnamese name, through different romanization conventions in Hong Kong and other Cantonese-speaking communities. A person named Hung may therefore have a Vietnamese or a Chinese/Cantonese naming background; the spelling alone does not prove which.
How Popular is the Name Hung?
Hung recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1982. Its best rank was #960 in 1982.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | #13,058 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2018 | #12,892 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2017 | #12,999 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2016 | #11,239 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #8,288 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2013 | #11,248 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2012 | #11,313 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2011 | #11,367 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2010 | #9,102 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2009 | #7,913 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2008 | #7,903 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2007 | #6,798 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2006 | #9,023 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2005 | #5,680 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2004 | #7,770 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2003 | #6,913 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2002 | #6,246 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2001 | #6,183 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2000 | #4,660 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1999 | #5,790 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1998 | #6,000 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1997 | #4,126 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1996 | #3,055 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 1995 | #3,361 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1994 | #3,378 | 20 | 0.0010% |
| 1993 | #2,141 | 37 | 0.0019% |
| 1992 | #2,563 | 28 | 0.0014% |
| 1991 | #2,205 | 33 | 0.0016% |
| 1990 | #2,336 | 30 | 0.0015% |
| 1989 | #2,568 | 25 | 0.0012% |
| 1988 | #2,012 | 32 | 0.0017% |
| 1987 | #1,811 | 36 | 0.0019% |
| 1986 | #1,676 | 38 | 0.0021% |
| 1985 | #1,605 | 40 | 0.0022% |
| 1984 | #1,149 | 63 | 0.0035% |
| 1983 | #1,112 | 65 | 0.0036% |
| 1982 | #960 | 88 | 0.0048% |
| 1981 | #1,105 | 68 | 0.0038% |
| 1980 | #1,319 | 51 | 0.0029% |
| 1979 | #1,545 | 38 | 0.0022% |
| 1978 | #2,100 | 23 | 0.0014% |
| 1977 | #2,597 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1976 | #2,138 | 22 | 0.0014% |
| 1975 | #2,578 | 16 | 0.0010% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Hung Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You attract success and money. You are a lover of nature and do not need others for your happiness. You are self sufficient. You strive for material success and power and have business sense. You possess strong organizational abilities, can be a good manager, and executive by nature. You are capable of great achievement in business and finance. Emergencies may raise your intuitive abilities in order to resolve conflict or situation. You become very creative under the pressure, and have quite original ideas to make the best out of it.
You are seeking freedom, opportunities to enjoy life: to make love, to go places and to do things. You are very adventurous and willing to take risk to achieve your objectives. New ways and new experiences can't satisfy your restless nature. One adventure leads you to another. You are honest and fair, because you know that this is the only way to receive justice and honesty from other people. But your personal growth is vital for you, and it is difficult to be tied down by rules and obligations. Your restless spirit might best controlled by choosing the field of work that meet your demand for action and adventure.
✦ Hung's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Hung's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.