Thu
Feminine Vietnamese name meaning "embroided" or "beautiful flower".
Name Census estimates that about 799 living Americans carry the first name Thu. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Thu today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thu births was 1983 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thu. 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 Thu with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
799
~ 1 in 428,979 Americans
Peak year
1983
55 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1990 SSA rank
#9,108
Tracked since 1975
Census
Thu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 11,154 people with the first name Thu, which placed it at #2,305 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
#2,305
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
11,154 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.7
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 Thu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.7%) and White (0.6%). 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 Thu 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 Thu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.4% · 10,970
- Two or more races0.7% · 78
- White0.6% · 69
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 23
- Black or African American0.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Thu
Out of the 837 babies given the name Thu since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Thu as a male name
- Ranked #9,366 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1990 (5 births)
Thu as a female name
- Ranked #9,108 in 2018
- 12 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1983 (55 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thu leans strongly female. 9,715 people counted with this name were female (87.1%), compared with 1,436 male bearers (12.9%).
Popularity
Thu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thu from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 378 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
Thu 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 Thu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thus live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Thu, while Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 83 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thu
The name Thu has its origins in the Vietnamese language. It is a shortened version of the longer name Thuy, which is derived from the Vietnamese word for "water" or "river." This name was commonly used in Vietnam during the medieval period and has remained popular throughout the country's history.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Thu dates back to the 13th century, when it was mentioned in the historical annals of the Tran Dynasty, which ruled Vietnam from 1225 to 1400. During this time, the name was associated with the Vietnamese nobility and was often given to daughters of prominent families.
In Vietnamese folklore, the name Thu is associated with a legendary figure known as the "Lady of the River." According to the story, this beautiful woman was said to have emerged from a river and married a local farmer, bringing prosperity and good fortune to the village. This tale has contributed to the name's association with water, fertility, and abundance.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Thu was Nguyen Thi Thu, a 16th-century Vietnamese poet and scholar who was renowned for her mastery of the Nom script, an ancient writing system used in Vietnam. Her works, which explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, were widely celebrated during her lifetime and continue to be studied by scholars today.
Another prominent figure with the name Thu was Thu Thuy, a Vietnamese revolutionary and military leader who played a significant role in the country's struggle for independence from French colonial rule in the early 20th century. She was actively involved in the Viet Minh resistance movement and was instrumental in organizing guerrilla forces against the French.
In more recent times, the name Thu has been carried by several notable Vietnamese artists and public figures. Thu Phuong, born in 1979, is a popular Vietnamese singer and actress who has released numerous successful albums and appeared in several films and television shows. Thu Minh, born in 1979, is another well-known Vietnamese singer and television personality who has won numerous awards for her music and performances.
Other notable individuals with the name Thu include Thu Ha, a Vietnamese-American actress and model who has appeared in various Hollywood productions, and Thu Thao, a Vietnamese-born professional golfer who has competed on the Ladies European Tour and the LPGA Tour.
While the name Thu is primarily associated with Vietnam and its cultural traditions, it has also been adopted in other parts of the world, particularly among individuals of Vietnamese descent living abroad. Its connection to water and nature has contributed to its enduring popularity as a name that evokes beauty, grace, and harmony.
People
Thu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thu as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 799 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thu 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 428,979 US residents.
Is Thu a common name?
We classify Thu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 837 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thu most popular?
The single biggest year for Thu was 1983, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thu is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 11,154 people with the name Thu, or 3.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,305 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 Thu 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 Thu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thu leans strongly female. 9,715 people counted with this name were female (87.1%), compared with 1,436 male bearers (12.9%). 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 Thu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.7%) and White (0.6%). 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 Thu most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Thu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.4% (10,970 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 Thu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thu a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Thu 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 Thu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thu 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 Thu 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 called Thu?
You can see how many Americans are named Thu on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.