Han
A Chinese masculine name meaning bright or radiant.
Name Census estimates that about 1,358 living Americans carry the first name Han. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 54.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Han today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Han births was 2017 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Han. 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 Han with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Han sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 252,396 Americans
Peak year
2017
46 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,748
Tracked since 1968
Census
Han in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,003 people with the first name Han, which placed it at #2,637 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
#2,637
National first-name rank
People counted
9.0K
9,003 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Han
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Han is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.6%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Han 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 Han at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.6% · 8,246
- White5.0% · 450
- Two or more races1.4% · 125
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 115
- Black or African American0.7% · 66
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Han
Han is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,390 total registrations, 753 (54.2%) were male and 637 (45.8%) were female.
Han as a male name
- Ranked #4,748 in 2024
- 21 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (30 births)
Han as a female name
- Ranked #9,124 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (25 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Han on both sides of the split. Of the 9,006 people counted with this name, 4,486 were male (49.8%) and 4,520 were female (50.2%).
Popularity
Han: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Han from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 363 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Han remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Han 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 Han during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Han, while Florida, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Han
The name Han has its origins in the Chinese language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is a single-syllable name that was commonly used as a given name in various regions of China.
The name Han is believed to be derived from the Chinese word "han," which means "great" or "grand." It is also thought to have connections to the Han Dynasty, a powerful imperial dynasty that ruled China from 206 BCE to 220 CE, and the ethnic Han Chinese people, who make up the majority of the population in China.
In ancient Chinese literature and historical records, the name Han appears in various contexts. One notable example is Han Xin, a famous military general who lived during the Han Dynasty and played a crucial role in the founding of the dynasty. Another notable figure is Han Yu, a renowned writer, philosopher, and politician who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE).
Among the earliest recorded examples of the name Han is Han Gaozu, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, who reigned from 206 BCE to 195 BCE. He was born Liu Bang and later adopted the name Han as his imperial name.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the given name Han. Here are five examples:
1. Han Feizi (around 280-233 BCE): A famous Chinese philosopher and writer who was one of the principal philosophers of the Legalist school of thought.
2. Han Wudi (156-87 BCE): The seventh emperor of the Han Dynasty, known for his military conquests and territorial expansion.
3. Han Xizai (fl. 578-559 BCE): A Chinese philosopher and scholar who was a contemporary of Confucius and is considered one of the most influential thinkers of the Spring and Autumn period.
4. Han Tuozhou (1320-1389): A famous Chinese painter and calligrapher during the Yuan and Ming dynasties.
5. Han Yongun (1879-1944): A Korean Buddhist monk, writer, and independence activist who played a significant role in the Korean independence movement against Japanese colonial rule.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the given name Han, reflecting its deep roots and significance in Chinese and East Asian cultures.
People
Han + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Han as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Han: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Han?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,358 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Han 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 252,396 US residents.
Is Han a common name?
We classify Han as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,390 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Han most popular?
The single biggest year for Han was 2017, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Han is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Han in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,003 people with the name Han, or 2.98 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,637 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 Han 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 Han?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Han on both sides of the split. Of the 9,006 people counted with this name, 4,486 were male (49.8%) and 4,520 were female (50.2%). 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 Han?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Han is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.6%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). 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 Han most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Han in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.6% (8,246 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 Han in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Han a male name?
Yes, 54.2% of people registered as Han 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 Han still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Han 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 Han 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 Han?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Han on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.