Khanh
A Vietnamese masculine name meaning "distinguished" or "eminent".
Name Census estimates that about 688 living Americans carry the first name Khanh. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Khanh today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Khanh births was 1982 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Khanh. 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 Khanh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
688
~ 1 in 498,189 Americans
Peak year
1982
44 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,247
Tracked since 1976
Census
Khanh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,491 people with the first name Khanh, which placed it at #2,751 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
#2,751
National first-name rank
People counted
8.5K
8,491 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Khanh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khanh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.2%. The next largest groups are White (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Khanh 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 Khanh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.2% · 8,336
- White0.8% · 67
- Two or more races0.7% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 20
- Black or African American0.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Khanh
Khanh is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 713 total registrations, 414 (58.1%) were male and 299 (41.9%) were female.
Khanh as a male name
- Ranked #10,247 in 2018
- 7 male births in 2018
- Peak: 1982 (30 births)
Khanh as a female name
- Ranked #14,491 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1985 (15 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Khanh on both sides of the split. Of the 8,489 people counted with this name, 4,994 were male (58.8%) and 3,495 were female (41.2%).
Popularity
Khanh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Khanh from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 287 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
Khanh 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 Khanh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Khanhs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Khanh, while Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Khanh
The given name Khanh has its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture. It is derived from the Middle Chinese word "khang," which means "healthy" or "prosperous." The name has been in use for centuries and has its roots in the ancient Vietnamese kingdoms.
In ancient Vietnamese texts and historical records, the name Khanh was often associated with individuals of high social status or royalty. It was considered a name that conveyed a sense of strength, vitality, and good fortune.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Khanh dates back to the 10th century, when it appeared in the annals of the Ngo Dynasty. During this period, a prominent figure named Khanh Van Xuan (948-1025) was a celebrated military strategist and scholar who played a crucial role in the defense of the kingdom against foreign invasions.
Throughout Vietnamese history, several notable individuals have borne the name Khanh. For example, Khanh Hoa (1428-1505) was a renowned poet and calligrapher during the Le Dynasty, known for his exquisite works that celebrated the beauty of nature and the human spirit.
In the realm of literature, Khanh Van Nguyen (1753-1819) was a prominent author and philosopher who wrote extensively on Confucian principles and moral values. His works had a profound influence on Vietnamese intellectual thought during the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Another notable figure was Khanh Hau (1876-1947), a respected politician and diplomat who served as the Prime Minister of Vietnam during the French colonial era. He was instrumental in negotiating for greater autonomy and advocating for Vietnamese independence.
In more recent times, Khanh Ly (1911-1996) was a celebrated Vietnamese artist renowned for his intricate lacquer paintings and woodblock prints that captured the essence of traditional Vietnamese culture and landscapes.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Khanh, a name that carries a rich cultural heritage and symbolizes prosperity, strength, and resilience in the Vietnamese tradition.
People
Khanh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Khanh as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Khanh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Khanh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 688 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Khanh 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 498,189 US residents.
Is Khanh a common name?
We classify Khanh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 713 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Khanh most popular?
The single biggest year for Khanh was 1982, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Khanh is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Khanh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,491 people with the name Khanh, or 2.81 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,751 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 Khanh 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 Khanh?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Khanh on both sides of the split. Of the 8,489 people counted with this name, 4,994 were male (58.8%) and 3,495 were female (41.2%). 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 Khanh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Khanh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.2%. The next largest groups are White (0.8%) and Two or More Races (0.7%). 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 Khanh most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Khanh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.2% (8,336 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 Khanh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Khanh a male name?
Yes, 58.1% of people registered as Khanh 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 Khanh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Khanh 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 Khanh 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 Khanh as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.