Tuan
A Vietnamese masculine name meaning "lord" or "master".
Name Census estimates that about 1,363 living Americans carry the first name Tuan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Tuan today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tuan births was 1982 (93 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tuan. 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 Tuan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 251,471 Americans
Peak year
1982
93 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2021 SSA rank
#12,015
Tracked since 1971
Census
Tuan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,721 people with the first name Tuan, which placed it at #2,000 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
#2,000
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
13,721 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tuan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tuan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Two or More Races (1.1%). 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 Tuan 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 Tuan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.1% · 12,772
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 562
- Two or more races1.1% · 149
- White1.1% · 148
- Black or African American0.6% · 86
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 4
Popularity
Tuan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tuan 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 710 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
Tuan 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 Tuan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tuans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Tuan, while Virginia, Kansas, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 126 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tuan
The name Tuan is believed to have originated from the Vietnamese language, where it is a common given name for males. In Vietnamese, the word "tuan" means "week" or "period of seven days." The name likely emerged during the medieval period in Vietnam, although its precise origins are uncertain.
One theory suggests that the name Tuan may have derived from an ancient Vietnamese word meaning "to obey" or "to follow," reflecting the cultural value placed on obedience and adherence to societal norms. However, this connection is not definitively established.
Historical records indicate that the name Tuan was used in Vietnam as early as the 11th century. It is mentioned in several ancient Vietnamese literary works and historical chronicles from that time period, although specific individuals with this name are not always clearly identified.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Tuan was Tran Tuan (1230-1291), a prominent Vietnamese Confucian scholar and statesman who served as a high-ranking official during the Tran Dynasty. He was renowned for his literary works and his contributions to the development of Vietnam's civil service system.
Another historically significant individual with the name Tuan was Nguyen Tuan (1386-1459), a Vietnamese military commander and strategist who played a crucial role in defending Vietnam against Chinese invasions during the Ming Dynasty. His military tactics and leadership were instrumental in preserving Vietnam's independence during this period.
In the 19th century, Tuan Nguyen Anh (1802-1883) was a Vietnamese prince and military leader who briefly ruled as the Emperor of Vietnam under the name Minh Mang. He is remembered for his efforts to modernize Vietnam's military and his attempts to resist French colonialism.
A more recent figure bearing the name Tuan was Tuan Nguyen (1910-1986), a Vietnamese diplomat and politician who served as the Prime Minister of South Vietnam from 1965 to 1966 during the Vietnam War.
Additionally, Tuan Leong (1920-2003) was a prominent Malaysian artist and painter known for his vibrant depictions of Southeast Asian landscapes and cultural scenes. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Malaysian art.
While the name Tuan has Vietnamese roots, it has also been adopted and used in other Southeast Asian countries with cultural ties to Vietnam, such as Cambodia and Laos. However, its usage remains most prevalent in Vietnam, where it continues to be a popular given name for boys and men.
People
Tuan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tuan 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
Tuan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tuan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,363 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tuan 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 251,471 US residents.
Is Tuan a common name?
We classify Tuan as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,417 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tuan most popular?
The single biggest year for Tuan was 1982, when 93 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tuan is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tuan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,721 people with the name Tuan, or 4.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,000 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 Tuan 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 Tuan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tuan leans strongly male. 13,456 people counted with this name were male (98.1%), compared with 263 female bearers (1.9%). 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 Tuan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tuan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.1%) and Two or More Races (1.1%). 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 Tuan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tuan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.1% (12,772 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 Tuan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tuan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tuan 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 Tuan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tuan 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 Tuan 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 Tuan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.