| Hao | Long | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Vast, great (浩) | dragon |
| Origin | Chinese | chinese |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | HOW | long |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| First appeared | 1976 | 1975 |
| Peak year | 1992 (20) | 1988 (133) |
| In 2025 | 6 | 5 |
| Trend | Declining | Vintage |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Hao | Long |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 17 | 69 |
| 2010s | 84 | 187 |
| 2000s | 130 | 306 |
| 1990s | 122 | 470 |
| 1980s | 91 | 731 |
| 1970s | 5 | 146 |
Hao is commonly the character 浩, “vast, grand,” or 昊, “bright sky.”
From Chinese (and Vietnamese) 龙 / 龍 (long, Mandarin tone lóng) 'dragon', a benevolent, imperial, rain-bringing figure. Note: it is a romanization of a tonal syllable, also spelled Lung in Wade-Giles/Cantonese; the same Pinyin 'Long' can represent the unrelated 隆 'prosperous, abundant', so the dragon sense is specific to 龙/龍.
Hao is more popular than Long today: about 6 US babies were given the name Hao in 2025, compared with 5 named Long.
Hao means Vast, great (浩) (Chinese origin), while Long means dragon (chinese origin).
In US records, Hao first appears in 1976 and Long in 1975, so Long has the longer recorded history.