Ling is a surname which can be of either Chinese, English, or Nordic origin.

Chinese

"Ling" is the Roman alphabet spelling of multiple

Chinese surname Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in China, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, and among overseas Chinese communities around the world such as Singapore and Malaysia. Written Chinese names begin with surnames, unlike the ...

Líng ()

According to traditional stories, the surname pronounced Líng () in Mandarin originated during the

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

as an

occupational surname In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community. Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name, ...

for a court official responsible for the storage and handling of ice.

King Wu of Zhou King Wu of Zhou () was the first king of the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. The chronology of his reign is disputed but is generally thought to have begun around 1046 BC and ended three years later in 1043 BC. King Wu's ancestral name was ...

's brother had a son who held this post, and Kang Shu's descendants later adopted Líng as their surname. *

Ling Cao Ling Cao (died 203) was a Chinese military general serving under the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the father of Ling Tong. He was killed by Gan Ning after his ambush at Xiakou. Service under ...

(, died 203), Eastern Han dynasty military officer serving under the warlords Sun Ce and Sun Quan *

Ling Tong Ling Tong () (189–217), courtesy name Gongji, was a Chinese military general serving under the warlord Sun Quan during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He started his service under Sun Quan when he was still a teenager and, throughout his ...

(, 189–217), Eastern Han Dynasty military officer, son of Ling Cao *

Ling Mengchu Ling Mengchu (; 1580–1644) was a Chinese writer of the Ming Dynasty. He is best known for his vernacular short fiction collections ''Slapping the Table in Amazement'' (拍案驚奇), I and II.Yenna Wu, "Ling Meng-ch'u and the 'Two Slappings," i ...

(凌濛初, 1580–1644), Ming Dynasty writer *

Ling Shuhua Ling Shuhua (; March 25, 1900–1990), also known as Su-hua Ling Chen after her marriage, was a Chinese modernist writer and painter whose short stories became popular during the 1920s and 1930s. Her work is characterized by her use of symbolism a ...

(, 1900–1990), Chinese modernist writer *

Ling Yun (politician) Ling Yun (; 29 June 1917 – 15 March 2018), born as Wu Peilin (), was a politician of the People's Republic of China, who served as the first Minister of State Security, from June 1983 (officially from July 1) to September 1985.Gilbert Ling (, born 1919), Chinese-born American biologist * Ling Qing (, 1923–2010), Chinese diplomat *

Ivy Ling Po Huang Yu-chun (born 16 November 1939 in Shantou, Republic of China (1912–49), Republic of China), known by her final stage name Ivy Ling Po, is a retired Hong Kong actress and Chinese opera singer. She is best known for a number of mega-hit H ...

(, born 1939), Hong Kong actress *

Ling Li (writer) Zeng Lili (; 13 February 1942 – 18 July 2018), better known by her pen name Ling Li (), was a Chinese writer and historian. She was born in Yan'an. Her ancestral home is Yudu County, Jiangxi Province. She graduated from PLA's Xi'an Institute o ...

(, born 1942), Chinese writer and historian *

Ling Jing-huan Ling Jing-huan (; 7 April 1927 – 14 July 2012) was a Taiwanese basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary obj ...

(, fl. 1950s), Taiwanese basketball player * James Sik Hung Ling (, born 1951), Hong Kong Salvation Army pastor *

Laura Ling Laura Ling (born December 1, 1976) is an American journalist and writer. She worked for Current TV as a correspondent and vice president of its Vanguard Journalism Unit, which produced the ''Vanguard'' TV series. She was the host and reporter o ...

(, born 1976), American journalist *

Lisa Ling Lisa J. Ling (born August 30, 1973) is an American journalist, television personality, and author. She is currently the host of ''This Is Life with Lisa Ling '' on CNN. Previously, she was a reporter on Channel One News, a co-host on the ABC dayt ...

(, born 1973), American journalist, television presenter, and author *

Ling Yong Ling Yong (; born 1978) is a Paralympic athlete from China competing in P54-58 pentathlon events (seated shot put, seated javelin throw, 200m wheelchair sprint, seated discus throw, 1500m wheelchair race). Ling contracted poliomyelitis in hi ...

(, born 1978), Chinese Paralympic athlete *

Ling Wan Ting Ling Wan Ting (; Jyutping: ling4 jyun2 ting4; born 24 November 1980) is a badminton player from Hong Kong. She played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics, losing to Cheng Shao-chieh of Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in ...

(, born 1980), Hong Kong badminton player *

Ling Jie Ling Jie (born October 22, 1982) is a retired Chinese artistic gymnast. She was the 1999 World Champion on the balance beam, the 2000 Chinese all-around national champion, and the silver medalist on the uneven bars at the 2000 Olympics in Sydn ...

(, born 1982), Chinese artistic gymnast *

Ling Cong Ling Cong () is a former Chinese professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Happy Valley In the 2008–09 season, Lin Cong scored 15 goals for Happy Valley and was the club's top scorer. On 5 May 2010, Ling Cong was quest ...

(, born 1985), Chinese football player *

Ling Zihan Ling Zihan (; born 1987) is a Chinese business executive and entrepreneur. In 2015, she founded TechBase, a Beijing company designed to encourage women to create online technology enterprises, the first of its kind in China. She was selected by ...

(, born 1987), Chinese technology businesswoman *

Kang Ling Kang Ling (凌康 born 14 March 1997) is a Chinese racing driver. Career Karting Ling began karting in 2010 and raced in Asia for the majority of his career, winning 2012 Asian Karting Championship x30 Senior class. Other highlights in his kart ...

(, born 1997), Chinese racing driver *

Andrew Ling Andrew Ling (凌顯祐) is a Hong Kong violist. , he is the principal violist of the Hong Kong Philharmonic. He has performed solo performances with the Hong Kong Philharmonic to critical acclaim. In the past, he had assumed the role of concertmas ...

(), Hong Kong violist *

Charles Ling Charles X. Ling (Chinese name: 凌晓峰) is a computer scientist who specializes in research on Data Mining and Machine Learning. He obtained his BSc from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 1985, and PhD from University of Pennsylvania in 1989. H ...

(), Chinese-born Canadian computer scientist *

Doris Ling-Cohan Doris Ling-Cohan () is a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, to which she was elected in 2002. In 2014, Justice Ling-Cohan was appointed to the Appellate Term, First Department. She is the first woman of Asian descent to be appointed to a ...

(), American judge on the New York Supreme Court *

L.H.M. Ling L. H. M. "Lily" Ling (14 November 1955 – 1 October 2018) was a political theorist and scholar whose work focused around the theory of ''worldism'' within international relations. Much of her work draws from storytelling, the arts, ...

(), American scholar of international affairs

Lìng ()

There is also a less-common surname pronounced Lìng () in Mandarin. In some cases, it may be a shortened version of the surname

Linghu Linghu () is a Chinese compound surname. During the Zhou Dynasty, a general, Wei Ke ( 魏顆) scored many victories for Zhou and was granted the city of Linghu. All his descendants took the compound surname Linghu. Notable people *Bruce Linghu, ...

(). People with this surname include: *

Ling Zhengce Ling Zhengce (; born May 1952) is a former Chinese politician from Shanxi province. From 2008 to 2014 Ling served as the vice-chairman of the Shanxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and prior to th ...

(, born 1952), Chinese politician *

Ling Jihua Ling Jihua (; born 22 October 1956) is a former Chinese politician and one of the principal political advisers of former leader Hu Jintao. Ling was best known for his tenure as chief of the General Office of the Chinese Communist Party between ...

(, born 1956), Chinese politician *

Huping Ling Huping Ling (; born 1956) is a professor of history and past department chair at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri, where she founded the Asian studies program. Her research focuses on Asian American studies, including immigration a ...

(, born 1956), Chinese-born American historian * Ling Wancheng (, born 1960), Chinese businessman

Regional pronunciation of Lín ()

"Ling" may also be an

Eastern Min Eastern Min or Min Dong (, Foochow Romanized: Mìng-dĕ̤ng-ngṳ̄), is a branch of the Min group of Sinitic languages of China. The prestige form and most-cited representative form is the Fuzhou dialect, the speech of the capital of Fujian. ...

Northern Min Northern Min () is a group of mutually intelligible Min varieties spoken in Nanping prefecture of northwestern Fujian. Classification and distribution Early classifications of varieties of Chinese, such as those of Li Fang-Kuei in 1937 and Yu ...

, or Wu transcription of the surname pronounced in Mandarin as Lín (). People with this surname spelled as "Ling" include: *

Ling How Doong Ling How Doong (; 1935/1936 – 30 April 2021) was a Singaporean politician and lawyer who served as the Parliament of Singapore, Member of Parliament (MP) for Bukit Gombak Single Member Constituency, Bukit Gombak SMC between 1991 and 1996. Edu ...

(, 1934–2021), Singaporean politician and lawyer *

Ling Liong Sik Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik (; born 18 September 1943) is a retired Malaysian politician. He was the sixth president of the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), a component party of Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition and also the former Malaysian Minis ...

(, born 1943), Malaysian politician *

Victor Ling Victor Ling, (; born 1943) is a Canadian researcher in the field of medicine. Ling's research focuses on drug resistance in cancer. He is best known for his discovery of P-glycoprotein, one of the proteins responsible for multidrug resistance. ...

(, born 1943), Chinese-born Canadian medical researcher *

Jahja Ling Jahja Ling () is a conductor, music director and pianist. From 2004 to 2017, he was the music director and conductor at the San Diego Symphony. Following his retirement in 2017, he plans to do guest conducting, as well as teaching and voluntee ...

(, born 1951), Indonesian-born American orchestral conductor *

Tschen La Ling Tscheu La Ling ( Chinese: 林球立; pinyin: ''Lín Qiú Lì''; born 6 January 1956) is a Dutch former professional footballer of mixed Dutch and Chinese descent, who played for clubs in the Netherlands, Greece and France. His name has been spell ...

(, born 1956), Dutch football player * John Wey Ling (; born ), Chinese-born American ballet dancer * Alan Ling Sie Kiong (, born 1983), Malaysian lawyer *

Julia Ling Julia Ling, born Xiao Wei Lin, is an American actress. Her television work includes recurring roles on NBC series such as '' ER'', ''Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip'', and as a series regular on ''Chuck''. Early life and education Ling was born ...

(, born 1983), American television actress *

Landon Ling Landon Lloyd Ling (; born 8 October 1987) is a Canadian former professional footballer of Hong Kong origin. He played as a left-back or a left winger. He also works in Canada as a singer, songwriter and music producer under the name of "Landon L ...

(, born 1987), Canadian football player

Other Chinese characters

One other rare surname () also pronounced Líng in Mandarin is believed to be used by only eight people in China. People with this surname include: *

Ling Kai Ng Ling Kai (; born October 26, 1986), is a bilingual Singaporean singer-songwriter. She won the Indie Artist Of The Year at YinYueTai 2nd Annual V Chart Awards in Beijing. Biography Ling Kai was born in Singapore in 1986. Her father is a Sing ...

(, born 1986), Singaporean singer-songwriter The following Chinese people have the surname Ling, but the characters for their Chinese names are not known: * Jonathan Ling (born ), Australian businessman of Chinese descent, CEO of Fletcher Building *

Pam Ling Pam Ling (born April 21, 1968) is an American physician and television personality, best known as a castmate on ''The Real World: San Francisco'', the third season of MTV's long-running reality television show. On the ''Real World'' On the show, ...

(born 1968), American reality show actress of Chinese descent The Vietnamese surname

Linh Linh is a Vietnamese name that means "soul" or "spirit". It is the Vietnamese pronunciation of the Chinese character (líng), which is not used as a surname in China. Surname * Linh Quang Viên (1918-2013), Vietnamese soldier who rose to the rank ...

originated from the Vietnamese pronunciation of a different character pronounced Líng in Mandarin (), which is not used as a surname in Chinese.

Other

The English surname Ling, also spelled Linge, may have two different origins: one from a word used in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

meaning "heath", and the other as a

toponymic surname A toponymic surname or topographic surname is a surname derived from a place name.

referring to the parish of

Lyng, Somerset Lyng is a civil parish in Somerset, England, comprising the villages of West Lyng and East Lyng and the hamlet of Bankland. History The name derives from the Old English ''hlenc'', meaning ''hill''. Nearby Athelney is famous for being the refug ...

. Lings is a variant of the English surname Ling, with addition of an

epenthetic In phonology, epenthesis (; Greek language, Greek ) means the addition of one or more sounds to a word, especially in the beginning syllable (''prothesis (linguistics), prothesis'') or in the ending syllable (''paragoge'') or in-between two syll ...

''s''. *

Nicholas Ling Nicholas Ling (fl.1570–1607) was a London publisher, bookseller, and editor who published several important Elizabethan works, including the first and second quartos of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''. Ling was the son of John Lynge, a parchment make ...

(), London publisher, bookseller, and editor *

Pehr Henrik Ling Pehr Henrik Ling (15 November 1776 in Södra Ljunga – 3 May 1839 in Stockholm) pioneered the teaching of physical education in Sweden. Ling is credited as the father of Swedish massage. Early life Ling was born in Södra Ljunga, Småland ...

(1766–1839), Swedish medical-gymnastic practitioner * Christopher Ling (1880-1953), English soldier and cricketer * Archie Ling (1881–1943), English football player * David W. Ling (1890–1965), American federal judge *

William Ling (cricketer) William Victor Stone Ling (3 October 1891 – 26 September 1960) was a South African cricketer who played in six Test matches from 1921 to 1923. Cricket career A middle-order batsman and leg-spin bowler, Ling played first-class cricket for Gri ...

(1891–1960), South African cricketer *

William Ling (referee) William Ling (1 August 1908 – 8 May 1984) was an English football referee from Stapleford, Cambridgeshire, who refereed the 1954 FIFA World Cup Final. 1948 Olympic Games Ling rose quickly through the ranks as a referee. He was initially on t ...

(1908–1984), English football referee * Anthony Ling (1910–1987), British cricket player *

James Ling James Joseph "Jimmy" Ling (December 31, 1922 – December 17, 2004) was an American businessman and former head of Ling-Temco-Vought corporation. While at its helm, Ling used LTV funds to purchase a large number of corporations, and was one of t ...

(1922–2004), American founder of Ling-Temco-Vought *

Daniel Ling Daniel Ling, (March 16, 1926 – August 9, 2003), was a preeminent figure in the development of methods for teaching speech to deaf children. His techniques have gained global recognition and widespread use. He served as a professor of Gradua ...

(1926–2003), Canadian scholar who studied the teaching of speech to deaf children *

Peter Ling Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

(1926–2006), British scriptwriter and novelist *

Robin Ling Robin Sydney Mackwood Ling, (7 September 1927 – 9 October 2017) was an English surgeon who invented the Exeter hip system, a hip replacement. As an orthopaedic surgeon at the Princess Elizabeth orthopaedic hospital, Exeter, he co-operated wi ...

(1927–2017), English surgeon who invented the Exeter hip system *

John Ling John de Courcy Ling CBE (14 October 1933 – 10 November 2005) was a British diplomat, farmer, politician and writer. His Roman Catholic faith contributed to making him a strong internationalist who believed in overseas aid. Family and perso ...

(1933–2005), British diplomat, farmer, politician and writer *

Sergey Ling Sergey Stepanovich Ling ( be, Сяргей Сцяпанавіч Лінг, translit=Syarhey Stsyapanavich Linh; russian: Сергей Степанович Линг; born 7 May 1937) is a Belarusian politician and agronomist. He was Prime Minister ...

(born 1937), Belarusian politician *

Staffan Ling Staffan Ling (born 8 November 1944) is a Swedish actor and television presenter. Ling moved to Umeå to study humanities at the Umeå University during his early years, and became one of the founders of the local student theatre (Umeå Nya Studen ...

(born 1944), Swedish actor and television presenter *

Richard Ling Richard Ling (Rich Ling) is a communications scholar who focuses on mobile communication. He was the Shaw Foundation Professor of Media Technology at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2013-2021). He has also lived and worked in Norway ...

(born 1954), American communications scholar *

Martin Ling Martin Ling (born 15 July 1966) is an English football manager and former player currently director of football for Leyton Orient. He played in over 100 Football League matches for each of Exeter City, Southend United, Swindon Town and Leyton ...

(born 1966), English football manager *

Tanya Ling Tanya Ling (born Calcutta 1966) is an artist, designer and fashion illustrator. Ling studied at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design in London (graduating in 1989) before working in Paris in the design studio of Christian Lacroix. ...

(born 1966), Indian fashion designer *

Jamie Ling Jamie Ling (born February 22, 1973) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Prior to turning professional, Ling attended the University of Notre Dame where he played four seasons of NCAA Division I college hockey with the Notre Dame ...

(born 1973), Canadian ice hockey player * Björn A. Ling (born 1974), Swedish actor and bandy player *

David Ling David Gregory Ling (born January 9, 1975) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey forward. Ling was selected by the Quebec Nordiques in the 7th round (179th overall) of the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Playing career Junior Ling played with th ...

(born 1975), Canadian professional ice hockey player *

Cameron Ling Cameron Ling (born 27 February 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A tagger at and , Ling is a premiership-winning captain at the club. He is now a c ...

(born 1981), Australian rules footballer *

Edward Ling Edward Ling (born 7 March 1983) is an English sport shooter who represented Great Britain at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2012 Summer Olympics, and 2016 Summer Olympics. Ling was born in Taunton, Somerset. At the 2004 Summer Olympics ...

(born 1983), British sport shooter *

Adam Ling Adam Ling (born 9 September 1991) is a New Zealand rower. He won a gold medal at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in the lightweight single sculls, but missed the Olympic qualification for the lightweight double sculls the following year. Ea ...

(born 1991), New Zealand rower *

Andy Ling Andy Ling is a British trance artist and remixer. He became popular due to his "Fixation" single. This reached No. 55 in the UK Singles Chart in 2000, and was released on the Hooj Choons Hooj Choons is a house record label formed by Alex ...

, British trance artist and remixer People with the surname Lings include: *

Martin Lings Martin Lings (24 January 1909 – 12 May 2005), also known as Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn, was an English writer, Islamic scholar, and philosopher. A student of the Swiss metaphysician Frithjof Schuon and an authority on the work of William Shake ...

(1909–2005), English philosophical writer *

Stephen Lings Stephen Lings ( - ) was an English wildlife artist, illustrator and author. He illustrated many newspapers, magazines and books, including some in the ''Thomas the Tank Engine Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tan ...

, English wildlife artist

Fictional characters

Francine Smith Francine Lee Smith (formerly Ling; née Dawson) is a fictional character on the American animated sitcom ''American Dad!'' She is the wife of the main character, Stan Smith and the mother of Hayley and Steve Smith. Francine is voiced by Wendy ...

(née Ling) from the animated television series ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'' *

Ling Xiaoyu Ling Xiaoyu (; ja, リン・シャオユウ, translit=Rin Shaoyū) is a fictional character from the ''Tekken'' franchise by Bandai Namco Entertainment. Following her debut in ''Tekken 3'' (1997), she has appeared in every subsequent game in th ...

() from the ''Tekken'' video game series *

Ling Zhen Ling Zhen is a fictional character in ''Water Margin'', one of the Four Great Classical Novels in Chinese literature. Nicknamed "Heaven Shaking Thunder", he ranks 52nd among the 108 Stars of Destiny and 16th among the 72 Earthly Fiends. Ling Z ...

() from the classical novel ''

Water Margin ''Water Margin'' (''Shuihu zhuan'') is one of the earliest Chinese novels written in vernacular Mandarin, and is attributed to Shi Nai'an. It is also translated as ''Outlaws of the Marsh'' and ''All Men Are Brothers''. The story, which is s ...

'' * Mei Ling, a guest character from the cartoon series ''

What's New, Scooby-Doo? ''What's New, Scooby-Doo?'' is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation for Kids' WB. It is the ninth incarnation of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise that began with Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' and ...

'', in the episode "Block-Long Hong Kong Terror" * Penny Ling, from ''

Littlest Pet Shop Littlest Pet Shop is a toy franchise and cartoon series owned by Hasbro. The original toy series was produced by Kenner in the early 1990s. An animated television series was made in 1995 by Sunbow Productions and Jean Chalopin Creativite et Deve ...

'' *

Lynn Minmay Lynn Minmay (Japanese: リン・ミンメイ ''Rin Minmei'', Chinese: 鈴明美 / 林明美 ''Líng Míngměi / Lín Míngměi'') is a fictional anime character from the ''Super Dimension Fortress Macross'' television series and '' Macross: Do Y ...

() from ''Robotech'' * Ling, a character from the ''

Mulan Hua Mulan () is a legendary folk heroine from the Northern and Southern dynasties era (4th to 6th century CE) of Chinese history. According to legend, Mulan took her aged father's place in the conscription for the army by disguising herself as ...

'' series

References

{{surname, Ling Chinese-language surnames Multiple Chinese surnames