Xinyu
A Chinese feminine name meaning "virtuous rain" or "prosperous rain".
Name Census estimates that about 30 living Americans carry the first name Xinyu. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Xinyu today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Xinyu births was 2019 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Xinyu. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Xinyu. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
30
~ 1 in 11,425,145 Americans
Peak year
2019
7 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,728
Tracked since 2010
Census
Xinyu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,669 people with the first name Xinyu, which placed it at #8,646 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
#8,646
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,669 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Xinyu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xinyu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Black (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 Xinyu 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 Xinyu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.8% · 1,516
- White6.7% · 112
- Black or African American1.1% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 11
- Two or more races0.7% · 11
Popularity
Xinyu: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Xinyu 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 Xinyu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 0 | 30 | 30 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Xinyu
The given name Xinyu has its origins in Chinese culture and language. It is a combination of two Chinese characters, "Xin" meaning "new" or "fresh", and "Yu" meaning "jade" or "precious stone". The name can be interpreted as "new jade" or "fresh precious stone".
In ancient Chinese history, jade was highly revered and considered a symbol of purity, beauty, and nobility. The name Xinyu may have been given to children with the hope that they would embody these qualities and lead a life of refinement and virtue.
The earliest known record of the name Xinyu dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), where it was mentioned in a collection of poems written by renowned poets of that era. During the Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD), the name gained popularity among the literary and scholarly circles.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Xinyu was a famous Taoist philosopher and alchemist who lived during the 8th century AD. He was renowned for his contributions to the study of alchemy and the pursuit of immortality through spiritual cultivation.
Another notable figure was Xinyu, a renowned calligrapher and poet during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 AD). His works were highly acclaimed for their elegance and were widely studied by scholars and artists of the time.
In the 18th century, there was a Xinyu who was a renowned painter and art critic. His critiques and commentary on the art of his time were highly influential and helped shape the artistic trends of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 AD).
During the 19th century, a Xinyu was a prominent figure in the Taiping Rebellion, a major civil war in China. He served as a military strategist and played a crucial role in several key battles.
In the early 20th century, a Xinyu gained recognition as a pioneering educator and advocate for women's education in China. She established several schools and worked tirelessly to promote equal educational opportunities for girls and women.
People
Xinyu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Xinyu as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with X
Other first names starting with X with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Xinyu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Xinyu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 30 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Xinyu 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 11,425,145 US residents.
Is Xinyu a common name?
We classify Xinyu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Xinyu most popular?
The single biggest year for Xinyu was 2019, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Xinyu is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Xinyu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,669 people with the name Xinyu, or 0.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,646 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 Xinyu 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 Xinyu?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Xinyu on both sides of the split. Of the 1,677 people counted with this name, 669 were male (39.9%) and 1,008 were female (60.1%). 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 Xinyu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xinyu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.8%. The next largest groups are White (6.7%) and Black (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 Xinyu most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Xinyu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.8% (1,516 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 Xinyu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Xinyu a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Xinyu 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 Xinyu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Xinyu 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 Xinyu 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 Xinyu?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Xinyu at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.