Note that contrary to popular belief, the word "ping pong" did not originate in China.
Ping pong was one of the alternate, trademarked name for the sport of table tennis. It was first used in England and later in the US. It became popular because it was used by the market leader at the time, the English sports company John Jaques & Son.
According to the
ITTF website, the first use of the name "Table Tennis" appeared on a board and dice game made by J.H.Singer in New York in 1887, showing that the phrase "table tennis" had been around at least since then.
When the game started in the 1890s, various patented or trademarked names were being used by different manufacturers. So when the English sports company John Jaques & Son became the market leader in the 1920s with their version of the game called "Ping Pong", they decided that they would only allow their trademarked name to be used. On the 12th December 1901, "The Table Tennis Association" was formed in England, and four days later, "The Ping-Pong Association" was also formed. These two associations would later merge in 1903 to become "The United Table Tennis and Ping-Pong Association", and then would eventually change back to "The Table Tennis Association" before dying out in 1904.
On the other side of the ocean, the American rights were sold to Parker Brothers. As more and more ping pong tournaments were now being organized, The Parker Brothers also threatened legal action against anybody who used their proprietary trademarked name of Ping Pong without specifying the use of their equipment. Therefore an alternative name was required for this sport and the name Table Tennis was chosen. So, since that time, and particularly since the establishment of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) in 1926, the modern game has been known as table tennis.