Peter Chan
There are approximately 112 people named Peter Chan living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 3,060,307 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Peter with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Chan. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
112
1 in 3,060,307
Named Peter
411K
Alive today
Named Chan
93K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 411K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1957
Average age: 53
Top Census group: White (80.9%)
Estimated bearers: 93K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #384
Per 100K: 27.24
Top ancestry: Asian/Pacific Islander (87.9%)
First name trend
Peter: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Peter. The peak year was 1957 with 11,629 births. The average person named Peter today is 53 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Peter
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Peter, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 80.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Peter described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Peter at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White80.9% · 375,785
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.5% · 30,202
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 30,085
- Black or African American3.7% · 17,383
- Two or more races2.0% · 9,160
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1,785
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Chan surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Chan, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is Asian/Pacific Islander at 87.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Chan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Chan at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- Asian and Pacific Islander87.9% · 71,567
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 3,916
- Two or more races3.5% · 2,838
- White3.0% · 2,465
- Black or African American0.7% · 592
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 53
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Peter has a living-bearer frequency of 0.1198% of the US population, based on 410,601 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Peter right now.
The surname Chan appears at a rate of 27.24 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0272%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 112 people with the full name Peter Chan. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Peter
Related
Other people with the surname Chan
FAQ
Peter Chan: questions and answers
How many people are named Peter Chan?
We estimate approximately 112 people in the United States share the full name Peter Chan. That works out to about 1 in 3,060,307 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.1198%) with the surname frequency (27.24 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Peter Chan?
We classify Peter Chan as "Very Rare". About 1 in 3,060,307 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Peter a male or female name?
Peter is predominantly male. Out of 589,576 total SSA registrations, 99.7% were male and 0.3% were female. See the full Peter profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many people have the full name Peter Chan?
See how common the name Peter Chan is on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.