Meiling as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Meiling

What is the meaning of the name Meiling ?

The baby name Meiling is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced Mandarin: Měi-líng (měi ≈ 'may', líng ≈ 'ling' with ng). Common English: 'MAY-ling' /ˈmeɪ.lɪŋ/.

Meiling is Chinese in Origin.

Meiling is a Mandarin Chinese feminine given name, commonly romanized in pinyin as Měilíng and written with various characters, most often 美玲, 美鈴/美铃, 梅玲, or 美琳. The meaning depends on the combination: mei can mean “beautiful” (美) or “plum blossom” (梅), while ling may denote the “tinkling of jade” (玲), a “bell” (鈴/铃), or “fine jade” (琳). Together, senses such as “beautiful tinkling jade,” “beautiful bell,” or “plum blossom and jade” are typical.

Use in the modern era was cemented internationally by Soong Mei-ling (Madame Chiang Kai-shek), making the hyphenated form Mei-ling common in Wade–Giles and older English sources. Variants include Mei Ling, Mei-ling, Meilin, May-ling, and Meyling; related Sino-Vietnamese Mỹ Linh shares the same morphemes. The name remains widespread across Chinese communities in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the diaspora, especially for girls, with pronunciation varying by dialect (e.g., Cantonese Mei-ling).