Huyen
A delicate, graceful feminine Vietnamese name.
Name Census estimates that about 262 living Americans carry the first name Huyen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Huyen today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Huyen births was 1984 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Huyen. 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.
People living today
262
~ 1 in 1,308,223 Americans
Peak year
1984
21 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2004 SSA rank
#17,095
Tracked since 1977
Census
Huyen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,493 people with the first name Huyen, which placed it at #5,044 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
#5,044
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,493 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Huyen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Huyen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.7%) and White (0.5%). 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 Huyen 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 Huyen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.4% · 3,437
- Two or more races0.7% · 24
- White0.5% · 19
- Black or African American0.2% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Huyen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Huyen from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 151 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Huyen 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 Huyen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Huyens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Huyen
The given name Huyen has its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture. It is derived from the Vietnamese word "huyền," which means "mysterious" or "profound." The name has been in use for centuries and has deep roots in Vietnamese tradition and folklore.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Huyen can be found in the ancient Vietnamese epic poem "The Tale of Kieu," written by Nguyen Du in the early 19th century. In the poem, Huyen is the name of one of the central characters, a beautiful and virtuous young woman who endures many hardships and challenges.
Throughout Vietnamese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Huyen. One of the earliest was Huyen Tran Cong Chan (1292-1370), a general and military strategist who played a crucial role in the Tran Dynasty's resistance against the Mongol invasions of Vietnam in the 13th and 14th centuries.
Another prominent Huyen in Vietnamese history was Huyen Tran Nguyen Dan (1765-1820), a female poet and scholar who lived during the Nguyen Dynasty. She was renowned for her exceptional literary talents and her contributions to Vietnamese poetry and literature.
In more recent times, Huyen Ton Nu Thi Nhat (1900-1986) was a renowned Buddhist nun and activist who played a significant role in the Vietnamese independence movement against French colonial rule. She was also a prominent figure in the struggle for women's rights and gender equality in Vietnam.
One of the most famous individuals named Huyen in modern times is Huyen Chip (born 1987), a Vietnamese pop singer and actress. She has released several successful albums and has starred in numerous television shows and movies, becoming a household name in Vietnam and throughout the Vietnamese diaspora.
It is worth noting that while the name Huyen has its roots in Vietnamese culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among Vietnamese communities living abroad. However, the rich history and cultural significance of the name remain deeply rooted in its Vietnamese origins.
People
Huyen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Huyen 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
Huyen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Huyen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 262 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Huyen 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 1,308,223 US residents.
Is Huyen a common name?
We classify Huyen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 276 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Huyen most popular?
The single biggest year for Huyen was 1984, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Huyen is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Huyen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,493 people with the name Huyen, or 1.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,044 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 Huyen 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 Huyen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Huyen leans strongly female. 3,189 people counted with this name were female (91.3%), compared with 305 male bearers (8.7%). 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 Huyen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Huyen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.7%) and White (0.5%). 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 Huyen most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Huyen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.4% (3,437 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 Huyen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Huyen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Huyen in the SSA data are female. 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 Huyen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Huyen 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 Huyen 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 are named Huyen?
Find out how many people share the name Huyen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.