| Mei | Ying | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Beautiful | Flower, hero (英) |
| Origin | chinese | Chinese |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | MAY | YING |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| First appeared | 1947 | 1980 |
| Peak year | 2025 (117) | 1992 (16) |
| In 2025 | 117 | 0 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Mei | Ying |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 483 | 0 |
| 2010s | 483 | 0 |
| 2000s | 385 | 70 |
| 1990s | 191 | 84 |
| 1980s | 136 | 106 |
| 1970s | 110 | 0 |
| 1960s | 37 | 0 |
| 1950s | 16 | 0 |
| 1940s | 18 | 0 |
From Chinese 美 (měi) 'beautiful'. One of the most direct beauty characters used in given names (another 梅 means 'plum blossom'; this entry is for 美 'beautiful').
Ying is commonly the character 英, “flower, brave, outstanding.”
Mei is more popular than Ying today: about 117 US babies were given the name Mei in 2025, compared with 0 named Ying.
Mei means Beautiful (chinese origin), while Ying means Flower, hero (英) (Chinese origin).
In US records, Mei first appears in 1947 and Ying in 1980, so Mei has the longer recorded history.