Cung
A Vietnamese masculine name meaning "respected" or "to honor".
Name Census estimates that about 103 living Americans carry the first name Cung. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cung today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cung births was 2011 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cung. 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.
People living today
103
~ 1 in 3,327,712 Americans
Peak year
2011
11 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,930
Tracked since 2010
Census
Cung in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,008 people with the first name Cung, which placed it at #12,372 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
#12,372
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,008 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
99.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cung
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cung is Asian/Pacific Islander at 99.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.3%) and Two or More Races (0.3%). 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 Cung 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 Cung at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander99.4% · 1,002
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 3
- Two or more races0.3% · 3
Popularity
Cung: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cung from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 88 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cung 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 Cung during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cungs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Cung
The name Cung originates from the Vietnamese language and culture. It is a variation of the name Khung, which is derived from the ancient Vietnamese word "khung" meaning "frame" or "structure." This name has its roots in the early history of Vietnam, dating back to the first millennium AD.
During the medieval period, the name Cung was associated with skilled artisans and craftsmen, particularly those who worked with wood and furniture-making. It was seen as a respectable name, reflecting the importance of craftsmanship and architectural design in Vietnamese society.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cung can be found in the "Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu," a historical text compiled in the 15th century, which mentions a skilled carpenter named Cung Van Hien who worked on the construction of the imperial palace in the 11th century.
Throughout Vietnamese history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Cung. One of the most famous was Cung Dinh Nhuong (1908-1972), a prominent Vietnamese painter and artist who played a significant role in the development of modern Vietnamese art. His works are celebrated for their unique blend of traditional Vietnamese aesthetics and Western artistic influences.
Another notable figure was Cung Van An (1926-2008), a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and scholar who was renowned for his expertise in Buddhist philosophy and his contributions to the preservation of traditional Vietnamese cultural practices.
In the field of literature, Cung Gui (1712-1786) was a celebrated Vietnamese poet and scholar during the Later Le Dynasty. His poems and literary works were widely praised for their elegant style and deep philosophical insights.
During the 19th century, Cung Dinh Vuong (1820-1892) was a prominent Vietnamese general and military leader who played a crucial role in the resistance against French colonial rule in Vietnam.
It is worth noting that while the name Cung has historical significance in Vietnamese culture, it is relatively uncommon in modern times, particularly among younger generations. Nevertheless, it remains a part of Vietnam's rich cultural heritage and continues to be cherished for its historical associations with craftsmanship, art, and literature.
People
Cung + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cung as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cung: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cung?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 103 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cung 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 3,327,712 US residents.
Is Cung a common name?
We classify Cung as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 104 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cung most popular?
The single biggest year for Cung was 2011, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cung is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cung in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,008 people with the name Cung, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,372 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 Cung 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 Cung?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cung leans strongly male. 901 people counted with this name were male (89.4%), compared with 107 female bearers (10.6%). 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 Cung?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cung is Asian/Pacific Islander at 99.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.3%) and Two or More Races (0.3%). 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 Cung most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Cung in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.4% (1,002 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 Cung in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cung a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cung 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 Cung still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cung 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 Cung 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 called Cung?
You can see how many Americans are named Cung on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.