Show ContentsChin Surname History

Chin World Ranking

In the United States, the name Chin is the 1,746th most popular surname with an estimated 17,409 people with that name. 1 However, in Canada, the name Chin is ranked the 963rd most popular surname with an estimated 5,601 people with that name. 2 And in New Zealand, the name Chin is the 785th popular surname with an estimated 930 people with that name. 3


United States Chin migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Chin Settlers in United States in the 17th Century
  • John Chin, who arrived in Virginia in 1662 4

Australia Chin migration to Australia +

Emigration to Australia followed the First Fleets of convicts, tradespeople and early settlers. Early immigrants include:

Chin Settlers in Australia in the 19th Century
  • Miss Mary Chin, (b. 1819), aged 66, Cornish domestic servant travelling aboard the ship "SS Aberdeen" arriving in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on 13th April 1885 5

Contemporary Notables of the name Chin (post 1700) +

  • Arthur Chin, American fighter pilot and flying ace in the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, during World War II, credited with 8½ aerial victories
  • William Chin, American Republican politician, Alternate Delegate to Republican National Convention from District of Columbia, 1964 6
  • Richard Chin, American Republican politician, Member of Kentucky State Senate 7th District, 1966-71 6
  • Lisa A. Chin, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from California, 2000 6
  • Helen Chin, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 2000, 2004 6
  • Ginny Chin, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Arizona, 2000 6
  • Frank F. Chin, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from Massachusetts, 1996 6
  • Chung Chin Chen, American Democratic Party politician, Delegate to Democratic National Convention from New York, 2004 7

Prince of Wales colliery
  • Mr. Frederick Chin (b. 1856), Welsh coal miner who was working at the Prince of Wales Colliery in Abercarn, Wales on the 11th September 1878 when there was a coal mine explosion; he died 8


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. "Surnames Meanings, Origins & Distribution Maps - Forebears." Forebears, https://forebears.io/surnames
  3. "Most Common Last Names in New Zealand." Forebears, https://forebears.io/new-zealand/surnames
  4. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  5. Cornwall Online Parish Clerks. (Retrieved 2018, April 19). Emigrants to Australia NSW 1860 -88 [PDF]. Retrieved from http://www.opc-cornwall.org/Resc/pdfs/nsw_passenger_lists_1860_88.pdf
  6. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2016, January 19) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  7. The Political Graveyard: Alphabetical Name Index. (Retrieved 2015, December 8) . Retrieved from http://politicalgraveyard.com/alpha/index.html
  8. Entombed in flood and flame (retrieved 3rd August 2021). Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20120603025705/http://www.crosskeys.me.uk/history/prince.htm


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