LENG
The surname Leng is of English origin and is thought to derive from the Old English word lang, meaning long or tall. It was traditionally used as a descriptive nickname for a person of exceptional height, or possibly as a comparative of lang indicating someone who was even more tall, described as leng. It may also have been a variant of the surname Lang, which shares the same literal meaning.
The earliest recorded spelling of the family name is that of Simon Lenge, dated 1275 in the Hundred Rolls of Norfolk during the reign of King Edward I. Subsequent entries include John Leng (1666‑1727), born in London and later appointed Bishop of Norfolk and chaplain to King George I, and Elizabeth Leng, who married Christopher Hogg at St Katherine’s by the Tower in London on 31 December 1691 in the reign of William & Mary.
Although the name could also be locational, referring to an inhabitant of a place called Leng or Lang, the early Norfolk record suggests a more descriptive rather than geographic origin. The surname remains comparatively uncommon in England, with Lang and its variations such as Lange, Laing and Long being more widely established.
A separate surname of the same spelling exists in China, deriving from Chinese characters meaning “cold” or “long,” and is unrelated to the Anglo‑Saxon surname discussed above. The English Leng therefore stands as an independent family name rooted in early medieval England.
Typical given names associated with the Leng surname
Male
- Andrew
- Christopher
- David
- James
- John
- Michael
- Peter
- Philip
- Richard
- Robert
- Stephen
- William
Female
- Anna
- Deborah
- Dorothy
- Elizabeth
- Fiona
- Helen
- Kathryn
- Margaret
- Marie
- Mary
- Sarah
- Susan
- Victoria
Similar and related surnames
Related and similar names are generated algorithmically based on the spelling, and may not necessarily share an etymology.
How to communicate the surname Leng in...
Braille
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Morse
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Semaphore
There are approximately 1,585 people named Leng in the UK. That makes it roughly the 5,119th most common surname in Britain. Around 24 in a million people in Britain are named Leng.
Surname type: Nickname
Origin: English
Region of origin: British Isles
Country of origin: England
Religion of origin: Christian
Language of origin: English
Famous people named Leng
- Peter Leng - Army general (1925 to 2009)
- Kathryn Leng - Cricket player of England.
Names and descriptions courtesy of Wikipedia, and may contain errors. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of every famous person with this name.