Explore the Family Name Niang

The meaning of Niang

1. West African (mainly Senegal, also Mali and Mauritania): Tukulor name of unexplained etymology. It is also found among the Wolof people. 2. Burmese (Chin): from a part of a female compound personal name, which is interpreted as ‘exuberant’. — Note: Since Chins do not have hereditary surnames, this name element was registered as such only after immigration of its bearers to the US.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Niang in the United States?

Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Niang has significantly increased from 2000 to 2010. In the year 2000, Niang was ranked as the 58,257th most common surname, but this jumped to 27,228 in 2010 - a remarkable increase of 53.26%. The count of people with the Niang surname also escalated, tripling from 326 individuals in 2000 to 888 in 2010. Consequently, the proportion of individuals with the Niang surname per 100,000 people grew by 150%, moving from 0.12 to 0.3.

20002010Change
Rank#58,257#27,22853.26%
Count326888172.39%
Proportion per 100k0.120.3150%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Niang

On the subject of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that there have been significant shifts from 2000 to 2010 among those with the Niang surname. While there were no reported Asian/Pacific Islanders with this surname in 2000, they represented 17.23% of Niangs in 2010. The percentage of Niangs identifying as two or more races decreased by 42.24% during this period, and the number of white individuals dropped by 46.09%. Although previously unreported, by 2010, Hispanics made up 0.9% of the population with this surname. Despite these changes, Black individuals remained the majority, making up 75.68% of Niangs in 2010, down 12.51% from 2000. There was no change in the percentage of American Indian and Alaskan Natives within this group.

20002010Change
Black86.5%75.68%-12.51%
Asian/Pacific Islander0%17.23%0%
Two or More Races6.44%3.72%-42.24%
White4.6%2.48%-46.09%
Hispanic0%0.9%0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native0%0%0%