Hui
A Chinese feminine name meaning "radiant" or "brilliant".
Name Census estimates that about 29 living Americans carry the first name Hui. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hui today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hui births was 2001 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hui. 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 Hui with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Hui. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
29
~ 1 in 11,819,115 Americans
Peak year
2001
8 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2007 SSA rank
#18,669
Tracked since 1991
Census
Hui in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,858 people with the first name Hui, which placed it at #2,491 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
#2,491
National first-name rank
People counted
9.9K
9,858 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hui
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hui is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.3%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Hui 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 Hui at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.3% · 9,686
- White0.9% · 89
- Two or more races0.4% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 23
- Black or African American0.2% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 2
Popularity
Hui: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hui 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 17 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Hui remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hui 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 Hui during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Huis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hui
The name Hui has its origins in Chinese culture, dating back several centuries. It is a unisex name that carries meanings related to intelligence, wisdom, and grace.
In the Chinese language, the character for Hui (慧) is composed of two parts: the radical for "heart" or "mind" and the character for "bright" or "intelligent." This suggests that the name was originally associated with mental acuity and a keen intellect.
One of the earliest mentions of the name Hui can be found in ancient Chinese literature, such as the Analects of Confucius, where it is used as a philosophical term to describe the state of being enlightened or possessing true wisdom.
Throughout Chinese history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Hui. One of the most prominent was Hui Shi, a philosopher who lived during the Warring States period (475-221 BCE). He was known for his paradoxical arguments and logical puzzles, which challenged traditional modes of thinking.
Another significant figure was Hui Neng (638-713 CE), the Sixth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism (known as Zen in Japan). He is revered for his teachings on the nature of enlightenment and his role in the development of Chan philosophy.
In the realm of art, Hui Zong (1082-1135 CE) was a celebrated Chinese painter and calligrapher during the Song Dynasty. His works, renowned for their elegance and subtlety, are considered masterpieces of the Southern Song period.
In the field of medicine, Hui Xian (1232-1311 CE) was a notable physician and author of the Yuan Dynasty. His comprehensive medical text, "The Comprehensive Recording of Sagely Beneficence," was a influential work in traditional Chinese medicine.
Hui Bao (1554-1585 CE) was a renowned Chinese explorer and navigator who led maritime expeditions to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean during the Ming Dynasty. His voyages contributed to the expansion of Chinese trade and cultural exchange.
These are just a few examples of prominent historical figures who carried the name Hui, each leaving a lasting impact in their respective fields and contributing to the rich cultural tapestry of China.
People
Hui + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hui as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hui: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hui?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 29 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hui 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 11,819,115 US residents.
Is Hui a common name?
We classify Hui as "Very Rare". It ranks above 46% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 30 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hui most popular?
The single biggest year for Hui was 2001, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hui is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hui in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,858 people with the name Hui, or 3.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,491 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 Hui 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 Hui?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Hui on both sides of the split. Of the 9,857 people counted with this name, 2,719 were male (27.6%) and 7,138 were female (72.4%). 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 Hui?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hui is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.3%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Hui most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Hui in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (9,686 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 Hui in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hui a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hui 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 Hui still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hui 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 Hui 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 Hui?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.