Tian
Of Chinese origin, meaning heaven, sky or heavenly.
Name Census estimates that about 505 living Americans carry the first name Tian. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Tian today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tian births was 2023 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tian. 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 Tian with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
505
~ 1 in 678,721 Americans
Peak year
2023
26 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,398
Tracked since 1974
Census
Tian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,671 people with the first name Tian, which placed it at #6,100 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
#6,100
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,671 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
81.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tian is Asian/Pacific Islander at 81.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.3%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Tian 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 Tian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander81.0% · 2,164
- White7.3% · 195
- Black or African American6.4% · 170
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 78
- Two or more races2.1% · 57
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Tian
Tian is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 514 total registrations, 361 (70.2%) were male and 153 (29.8%) were female.
Tian as a male name
- Ranked #4,398 in 2024
- 24 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (26 births)
Tian as a female name
- Ranked #17,914 in 2018
- 5 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1993 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tian on both sides of the split. Of the 2,662 people counted with this name, 1,514 were male (56.9%) and 1,148 were female (43.1%).
Popularity
Tian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tian from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 151 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Tian remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tian 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 Tian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tians live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tian
The name Tian has its origins in Chinese culture, where it is a unisex name that can be used for both males and females. It is derived from the Chinese word "天" which translates to "heaven" or "sky" in English. This name has been in use for centuries, with its earliest recorded examples dating back to ancient Chinese literature and historical records.
One of the earliest known references to the name Tian can be found in the Analects of Confucius, a collection of sayings and philosophical teachings attributed to the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius (551–479 BC). In this text, the name Tian is mentioned in the context of discussing the concept of "Tian Dao" or "the Way of Heaven," which refers to the natural order of the universe and the ethical principles that govern human behavior.
During the Han Dynasty (206 BC–220 AD), the name Tian was commonly used as a personal name among the aristocracy and elite classes. One notable figure from this period was Tian Feng (938–968 AD), a renowned Chinese poet and calligrapher who was known for his lyrical poetry and skilled brushwork.
In Chinese mythology, the name Tian is associated with the concept of the Jade Emperor, also known as Yuhuang Dadi, who is considered the supreme ruler of heaven and the highest deity in the traditional Chinese pantheon. This association further reinforces the celestial and divine connotations of the name.
Other notable historical figures who bore the name Tian include Tian Rucheng (1504–1585), a Ming Dynasty scholar and philosopher known for his contributions to neo-Confucianism, and Tian Ying (1557–1605), a renowned Chinese landscape painter of the late Ming Dynasty.
In more recent history, Tian Han (1898–1968) was a prominent Chinese playwright, writer, and poet who is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in modern Chinese literature. His works, such as the play "Guan Hanqing," helped shape the development of contemporary Chinese theater and drama.
While the name Tian has ancient roots and a rich cultural heritage, it continues to be a popular choice for newborns in various regions of China and among Chinese communities around the world, symbolizing the connection to celestial and spiritual realms.
People
Tian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tian 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
Tian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 505 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tian 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 678,721 US residents.
Is Tian a common name?
We classify Tian as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 514 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tian most popular?
The single biggest year for Tian was 2023, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tian is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,671 people with the name Tian, or 0.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,100 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 Tian 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 Tian?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tian on both sides of the split. Of the 2,662 people counted with this name, 1,514 were male (56.9%) and 1,148 were female (43.1%). 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 Tian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tian is Asian/Pacific Islander at 81.0%. The next largest groups are White (7.3%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Tian most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.0% (2,164 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 Tian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tian a male name?
Yes, 70.2% of people registered as Tian 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 Tian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tian 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 Tian 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 Americans are named Tian?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.