Hyun
A masculine Korean name meaning "kind" or "courteous".
Name Census estimates that about 410 living Americans carry the first name Hyun. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Hyun today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hyun births was 1989 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hyun. 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 Hyun with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
410
~ 1 in 835,986 Americans
Peak year
1989
22 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2016 SSA rank
#12,940
Tracked since 1957
Census
Hyun in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,798 people with the first name Hyun, which placed it at #3,556 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
#3,556
National first-name rank
People counted
5.8K
5,798 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hyun
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hyun is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Hyun 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 Hyun at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.6% · 5,719
- White0.7% · 41
- Two or more races0.4% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 10
- Black or African American0.1% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Hyun
Hyun is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 431 total registrations, 263 (61.0%) were male and 168 (39.0%) were female.
Hyun as a male name
- Ranked #12,940 in 2016
- 5 male births in 2016
- Peak: 1989 (14 births)
Hyun as a female name
- Ranked #13,025 in 1998
- 6 female births in 1998
- Peak: 1982 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hyun on both sides of the split. Of the 5,806 people counted with this name, 2,195 were male (37.8%) and 3,611 were female (62.2%).
Popularity
Hyun: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hyun from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 146 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
Hyun 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 Hyun during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hyuns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hyun
The name Hyun has its origins in the Korean language and culture. It is derived from the Korean word "hyeon" which means "wise" or "prudent." The name dates back several centuries, with its earliest recorded use found in historical records and literature from the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 CE).
One of the earliest references to the name Hyun can be found in the Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, compiled in 1145 CE. The text mentions a prominent scholar and official named Hyun Hui (861-935 CE), who served during the late Silla period.
During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897 CE), the name Hyun gained popularity among the yangban class, the aristocratic elite of Korean society. It was often given to sons with the hope that they would grow up to be wise and virtuous leaders.
One notable figure from this period was Hyun Bong-hak (1551-1615 CE), a renowned scholar and calligrapher who served as a royal tutor during the reign of King Seonjo.
In more recent history, the name Hyun has been borne by several influential individuals, including Hyun Sang-yun (1809-1886 CE), a leader of the Donghak Peasant Revolution, and Hyun Sung-min (1855-1928 CE), a prominent educator and independence activist during the Japanese colonial period.
Other famous individuals with the name Hyun include:
1. Hyun Jin-geon (1639-1701 CE), a Confucian scholar and writer during the Joseon Dynasty.
2. Hyun Seok-ju (1855-1935 CE), a pioneering journalist and independence activist.
3. Hyun Sang-yong (1932-2005 CE), a renowned South Korean poet and literary critic.
4. Hyun Young (1966-present), a South Korean singer and actress.
5. Hyun Bin (1982-present), a popular South Korean actor known for his roles in television dramas and films.
Throughout its history, the name Hyun has carried connotations of wisdom, intelligence, and virtue, reflecting the high regard in which these qualities were held in traditional Korean culture.
People
Hyun + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hyun 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
Hyun: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hyun?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hyun 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 835,986 US residents.
Is Hyun a common name?
We classify Hyun as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 431 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hyun most popular?
The single biggest year for Hyun was 1989, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hyun 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 Hyun in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,798 people with the name Hyun, or 1.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,556 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 Hyun 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 Hyun?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hyun on both sides of the split. Of the 5,806 people counted with this name, 2,195 were male (37.8%) and 3,611 were female (62.2%). 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 Hyun?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hyun is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Hyun most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hyun in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (5,719 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 Hyun in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hyun a male name?
Yes, 61.0% of people registered as Hyun 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 Hyun still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hyun 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 Hyun 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 common is the name Hyun?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.