Da
A Vietnamese feminine name meaning "long-lasting".
Name Census estimates that about 294 living Americans carry the first name Da. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Da today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Da births was 1999 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Da. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Da with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
294
~ 1 in 1,165,831 Americans
Peak year
1999
33 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2010 SSA rank
#11,026
Tracked since 1983
Census
Da in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,373 people with the first name Da, which placed it at #6,688 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#6,688
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,373 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
67.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Da
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Da is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.4%. The next largest groups are White (18.3%) and Black (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Da described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Da at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander67.4% · 1,600
- White18.3% · 435
- Black or African American6.7% · 158
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 146
- Two or more races1.4% · 34
Gender
Gender distribution for Da
Da is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 302 total registrations, 186 (61.6%) were male and 116 (38.4%) were female.
Da as a male name
- Ranked #11,026 in 2010
- 6 male births in 2010
- Peak: 1999 (19 births)
Da as a female name
- Ranked #17,084 in 2005
- 5 female births in 2005
- Peak: 1991 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Da on both sides of the split. Of the 2,372 people counted with this name, 1,572 were male (66.3%) and 800 were female (33.7%).
Popularity
Da: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Da from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 219 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Da by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Da during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Das live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Da, while Pennsylvania, Virginia, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Da
The name Da has its origins in Chinese culture, dating back to ancient times. It is a unisex name that can be used for both males and females. In Mandarin Chinese, the character "大" (dà) means "big" or "great," and this character is often used to represent the name Da.
The earliest recorded use of the name Da can be traced back to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600-1046 BCE), where it was used as a personal name. During this period, names were often chosen based on their auspicious meanings or associations with nature and virtues. The name Da likely signified the parents' hopes for their child to grow up to be great or significant.
In Chinese literature and historical records, there are several notable figures who bore the name Da. One of the most famous is Da Yu (c. 2200 BCE), a legendary ruler and founder of the Xia Dynasty, who is credited with taming the great floods that plagued ancient China. Another prominent figure is Da Ji (c. 1027-957 BCE), a consort of King Zhou of Shang, who is portrayed in various literary works as a cruel and manipulative figure.
The name Da also appears in Buddhist scriptures and teachings. For example, Da Xian, also known as Mahasthama, was one of the Ten Principal Students of the Buddha and is revered for his wisdom and spiritual attainments.
In more recent history, there have been several notable individuals named Da. One such figure is Da Zhongguang (1964-), a Chinese basketball player who represented China in the 1988 and 1992 Summer Olympics. Another is Da Peng (1982-), a Chinese actor and singer who has gained popularity in both film and television.
Outside of China, the name Da has also been used in other cultures and contexts. For example, Da was a common personal name among the Khmer people of Cambodia, and it has been used as a prefix or title in some West African societies, such as the Yoruba people of Nigeria.
Overall, the name Da has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in Chinese culture, where it has been associated with greatness, virtue, and spiritual attainments throughout the ages.
People
Da + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Da as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Da: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Da?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 294 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Da going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,165,831 US residents.
Is Da a common name?
We classify Da as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 302 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Da most popular?
The single biggest year for Da was 1999, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Da is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Da in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,373 people with the name Da, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,688 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Da in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Da?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Da on both sides of the split. Of the 2,372 people counted with this name, 1,572 were male (66.3%) and 800 were female (33.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Da?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Da is Asian/Pacific Islander at 67.4%. The next largest groups are White (18.3%) and Black (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Da most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Da in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.4% (1,600 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Da in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Da a male name?
Yes, 61.6% of people registered as Da in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Da still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Da in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Da can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Da?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Da on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.