Daekwon
A name of Korean origin meaning "great leader" or "great power".
Name Census estimates that about 216 living Americans carry the first name Daekwon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Daekwon today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daekwon births was 1996 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daekwon. 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
216
~ 1 in 1,586,826 Americans
Peak year
1996
37 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2006 SSA rank
#8,122
Tracked since 1995
Census
Daekwon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 173 people with the first name Daekwon, which placed it at #41,949 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
#41,949
National first-name rank
People counted
173
173 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daekwon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daekwon is Black at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and White (4.0%). 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 Daekwon 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 Daekwon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American85.0% · 147
- Two or more races7.5% · 13
- White4.0% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 6
Popularity
Daekwon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daekwon from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 140 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Daekwon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daekwon 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 Daekwon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Daekwons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland recorded the most babies named Daekwon, while Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daekwon
The name Daekwon has its origins in the Korean language, with roots dating back to the ancient Korean kingdoms of the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC - 935 AD). It is a compound name formed by combining the words "dae", meaning "great" or "vast", and "kwon", meaning "authority" or "power". The name carries a sense of grandeur, strength, and leadership.
Historically, the name Daekwon was associated with members of the royal families and nobility during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392) and the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897). It was a name often bestowed upon princes and high-ranking officials, reflecting their esteemed status and influence within the court.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Daekwon can be found in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty, where it is mentioned in reference to a high-ranking government official named Daekwon Lee, who served during the reign of King Sejong the Great (1397-1450).
Throughout Korean history, several notable figures bore the name Daekwon. One such individual was Daekwon Kim (1598-1659), a renowned Confucian scholar and politician who played a pivotal role in shaping the intellectual and political landscape of the Joseon Dynasty.
Another prominent figure was Daekwon Jang (1780-1841), a revered military leader and strategist who led the Korean forces against the Japanese invasions in the late 16th century. His tactical brilliance and unwavering courage earned him a place in Korean folklore as a national hero.
In the 19th century, Daekwon Choi (1831-1901) was a celebrated calligrapher and artist, renowned for his mastery of the Chinese calligraphic style and his contributions to the preservation of traditional Korean arts.
During the 20th century, Daekwon Park (1920-1990) was a prominent figure in the Korean independence movement against Japanese colonial rule. He dedicated his life to advocating for Korean sovereignty and played a crucial role in the establishment of the Republic of Korea.
Lastly, Daekwon Lee (1942-2018) was a renowned Korean film director and screenwriter, known for his critically acclaimed works that explored themes of social injustice and human resilience. His films garnered numerous international awards and accolades.
People
Daekwon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daekwon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Daekwon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daekwon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 216 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daekwon 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 1,586,826 US residents.
Is Daekwon a common name?
We classify Daekwon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 220 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daekwon most popular?
The single biggest year for Daekwon was 1996, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daekwon is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daekwon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 173 people with the name Daekwon, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,949 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 Daekwon 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 Daekwon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daekwon appears almost entirely male. Of the 175 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Daekwon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daekwon is Black at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.5%) and White (4.0%). 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 Daekwon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Daekwon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (147 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 Daekwon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daekwon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Daekwon 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 Daekwon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daekwon 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 Daekwon 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 share the name Daekwon?
You can see how many Americans are named Daekwon on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.