Lung
An English surname most likely used as a nickname for someone called “Long.”
The #4,578 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 39,823 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname is best explained as a nickname from Middle English lung, a form used for "long." In older English records the spelling could vary widely, and Bardsley notes Lung as a common variant alongside Long and Lang. The sense is probably descriptive, referring to a tall person or someone with a long, slender appearance.
History
The name appears in medieval English records in several spellings, especially in forms linked to Long and Lang. It seems to have survived mainly as a rare surname rather than a large clan or regional name. Modern bearers are likely descended from different unrelated families that adopted the nickname independently.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Nineteenth-century surname writers sometimes treated Lung as just another medieval spelling of Long, not a separate family name at all.
From the historical record
“LINDO. (Spanish.) Neat, spruce, fine. LUNG. (Teutonic.) English, long, heath; also, a species of long grass ; a long, slender fish. LINDSAY or LINDSEY. Local Sir William Dugdale says this surname is local, and was first assumed by the proprietors of the lands and manor of Lindsay, in the county of Essex, England.…”
— An Etymological Dictionary of Family and Christian Names