Asan
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "safe" or "healthy".
Name Census estimates that about 106 living Americans carry the first name Asan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Asan today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Asan births was 2023 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Asan. 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 Asan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
106
~ 1 in 3,233,531 Americans
Peak year
2023
16 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,778
Tracked since 1995
Census
Asan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 170 people with the first name Asan, which placed it at #42,346 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
#42,346
National first-name rank
People counted
170
170 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Asan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asan is White at 39.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.5%). 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 Asan 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 Asan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.4% · 67
- Black or African American31.8% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander13.5% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino8.2% · 14
- Two or more races7.1% · 12
Popularity
Asan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Asan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 64 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Asan 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 Asan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Asan
The name Asan is believed to have its origins in the Persian language, where it is derived from the word "asān," meaning "easy" or "simple." This name has been in use for centuries, dating back to the ancient Persian civilization.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Asan can be found in the Shahnameh, the national epic of Greater Iran, written by the renowned Persian poet Ferdowsi between 977 and 1010 CE. In this epic, Asan is mentioned as the name of a character, though details about their significance are scarce.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Asan. One of the earliest was Asan the Blind, a 12th-century Bulgarian nobleman and military leader who played a crucial role in the uprising against the Byzantine Empire and the subsequent establishment of the Second Bulgarian Empire in 1185. His exact birth and death dates are uncertain, but he is believed to have lived during the latter half of the 12th century.
Another prominent figure with the name Asan was Asan ibn Samsam al-Dawla, a 12th-century Persian vizier and military commander who served under the Seljuk Empire. He was known for his military exploits and his role in the administration of the empire. He lived from around 1087 to 1153 CE.
In the 13th century, Asan Chetartan was a prominent Bulgarian nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the resistance against the Byzantine Empire's efforts to reconquer Bulgaria. He was a member of the Shishman dynasty and ruled as the despot of Vidin from 1280 to 1293 CE.
Moving forward in history, Asan Gandapur was a 16th-century Afghan military commander and governor who served under the Mughal Empire. He was appointed as the governor of Lahore and played a crucial role in the Mughal conquest of Kashmir in the late 16th century. His exact birth and death dates are uncertain, but he is believed to have lived during the latter half of the 16th century.
Another notable individual with the name Asan was Asan Khojeili, a 17th-century Uzbek military leader and governor who served under the Khanate of Bukhara. He was known for his military campaigns against the Persians and his role in the administration of the Khanate. He lived from around 1620 to 1680 CE.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Asan, demonstrating its long-standing use and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Asan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Asan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Asan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Asan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 106 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Asan 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 3,233,531 US residents.
Is Asan a common name?
We classify Asan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 107 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Asan most popular?
The single biggest year for Asan was 2023, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Asan is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Asan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 170 people with the name Asan, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,346 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 Asan 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 Asan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Asan leans strongly male. 154 people counted with this name were male (91.7%), compared with 14 female bearers (8.3%). 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 Asan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asan is White at 39.4%. The next largest groups are Black (31.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (13.5%). 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 Asan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Asan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.4% (67 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 Asan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Asan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Asan 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 Asan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Asan 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 Asan 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 have Asan as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Asan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.