Eun
A feminine Korean name meaning "grace" or "flower."
Name Census estimates that about 268 living Americans carry the first name Eun. It is a predominantly female name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Eun today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eun births was 1989 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eun. 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 Eun with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
268
~ 1 in 1,278,934 Americans
Peak year
1989
14 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1989 SSA rank
#8,301
Tracked since 1957
Census
Eun in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,212 people with the first name Eun, which placed it at #3,798 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
#3,798
National first-name rank
People counted
5.2K
5,212 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eun
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eun is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) 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 Eun 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 Eun at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.5% · 5,136
- White0.7% · 39
- Two or more races0.3% · 14
- Black or African American0.2% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino0.1% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Eun
Eun leans heavily female at 98.3% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Eun as a male name
- Ranked #8,301 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (5 births)
Eun as a female name
- Ranked #12,843 in 2003
- 7 female births in 2003
- Peak: 1985 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eun leans strongly female. 4,695 people counted with this name were female (90.2%), compared with 509 male bearers (9.8%).
Popularity
Eun: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eun from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 100 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eun 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 Eun during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Euns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Kansas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Eun, while New York, California, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eun
The name Eun has its origins in Korean culture, derived from the word "eun" which means "silver" or "graceful." It is a unisex name that has been used for centuries in Korea.
During the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 CE), the name Eun was popular among the nobility and aristocratic families. It was often given to children born into these distinguished households, representing the hopes for grace, purity, and elegance.
In ancient Korean literature, such as the Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), there are references to individuals bearing the name Eun. One notable example is Eun Haengrang, a Silla scholar and poet who lived during the 7th century CE.
The earliest recorded use of the name Eun can be traced back to the Silla Kingdom (57 BCE - 935 CE). One of the most famous individuals with this name was Eun Yeomun, a revered Buddhist monk and scholar who lived during the 7th century CE. He is renowned for his contributions to the spread of Buddhism in the Korean peninsula.
Throughout Korean history, several notable figures have borne the name Eun. This includes Eun Boksu (1637-1698), a Confucian scholar and thinker during the Joseon Dynasty, known for his influential works on Neo-Confucianism. Another prominent figure was Eun Heekyung (1928-2005), a celebrated Korean novelist and poet whose works explored themes of identity, war, and social change.
In more recent times, the name Eun has been carried by individuals such as Eun Jiwon (1947-), a South Korean diplomat and former Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Eun Yeejung (1993-), a popular South Korean actress and singer.
The name Eun continues to be a popular choice among Korean families today, reflecting its deep-rooted cultural significance and the enduring appreciation for its connotations of grace, elegance, and purity.
People
Eun + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eun as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eun: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eun?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 268 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eun 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 1,278,934 US residents.
Is Eun a common name?
We classify Eun as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 290 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eun most popular?
The single biggest year for Eun was 1989, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eun is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eun in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,212 people with the name Eun, or 1.73 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,798 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 Eun 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 Eun?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eun leans strongly female. 4,695 people counted with this name were female (90.2%), compared with 509 male bearers (9.8%). 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 Eun?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eun is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.5%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) 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 Eun most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Eun in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.5% (5,136 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 Eun in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eun a female name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Eun 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 Eun still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eun 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 Eun 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 Eun?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.