Fun Facts About the Name Vang
- 336 babies named Vang: U.S. records list 336 babies given the name Vang from 1880 through 2025. Even 11 girls received the name Vang - about 1 girl for every 30 boys.
What Does the Name Vang Mean?
Vang is a family name with two separate origins. In Scandinavia it comes from Old Norse vangr, meaning "field," "meadow," or "grassy slope," a word with relatives in Old English wang and Gothic waggs. A family named Vang usually takes the name of a farm, village, or parish called Vang, so the sense is "the field" or "the meadow" rather than a description of a person.
Among the Hmong, Vang is a clan name, written Vaj in the Romanized Popular Alphabet used for the Hmong language. The ordinary Hmong word vaj means "garden" or "enclosed plot," but a clan name functions as an inherited group label, and its everyday sense is not what identifies the person who bears it.
Vang also appears as a surname among Vietnamese and Lao families. The Vietnamese word vàng means "gold" or "yellow," but families surnamed Vang in Southeast Asia may also be of Hmong descent, so the Scandinavian and Hmong names should not be treated as one word with one meaning.
Vang Name History & Origins
Old Norse vangr is recorded in medieval Scandinavian place names for fields and green spaces, and the name Vang survives on farms, villages, and parishes in Norway, Denmark, and the Faroe Islands. Vang in Valdres, Norway, gave its name to a stave church that was taken down in 1841 - 42 and rebuilt in what is now Karpacz, Poland, and Vang on the Danish island of Bornholm is also a parish name. In Norway and Denmark most families did not pass down a fixed surname until the 19th and early 20th centuries, when laws required hereditary family names; many households then adopted the name of the farm or parish where they lived, which is how Vang became a surname.
Hmong society is organized into exogamous clans, and a person belongs to the father's clan for life and may not marry within it. The same clan names, Vang among them, are used by Hmong in China, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand, and the diaspora, and the shared clan list and Hmong oral tradition place the system's origin in China before the migrations south in the 18th and 19th centuries. After 1975, when Hmong who had fought alongside U.S. forces in Laos left the country, large communities formed in the United States, and Vang became a common American surname in states such as California, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The Hmong military leader Vang Pao (1929 - 2011) settled in California after the war.
How Popular is the Name Vang?
Vang has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 1990. Its best rank was #2,549 in 1990.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | #12,897 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1981 | #12,121 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | #10,601 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2000 | #12,043 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1999 | #9,850 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1998 | #8,427 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1997 | #8,071 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #5,518 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1995 | #3,687 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1994 | #4,279 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1993 | #3,493 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1992 | #3,597 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 1991 | #3,806 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1990 | #2,549 | 27 | 0.0013% |
| 1989 | #2,611 | 25 | 0.0012% |
| 1988 | #3,339 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1987 | #3,064 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1986 | #3,643 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1985 | #2,939 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1984 | #3,447 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1983 | #3,225 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1982 | #2,592 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 1981 | #2,886 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1980 | #3,246 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1979 | #6,025 | 6 | 0.0003% |
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.
Most Popular Boy Names That Start with V
Short Boy Names That Start with V
How the Name Vang Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are fixed in your opinions, firm in your friendships and square in your dealings with others. You are an excellent worker. Since you are both possessive and emotional, you can be either very practical or very impractical and unpredictable. Your dual nature needs to become steadfast. You are the marrying kind. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Vang's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Vang's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.