In
A Chinese gender neutral given name meaning "grace" or "patience".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name In. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.8% of registrations being female. The average person named In today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of In births was 1956 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for In. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name In. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1956
6 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
1992 SSA rank
#8,949
Tracked since 1954
Census
In in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,493 people with the first name In, which placed it at #5,044 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
#5,044
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,493 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for In
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named In is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 In 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 In at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.8% · 3,278
- White3.9% · 135
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 34
- Black or African American0.8% · 28
- Two or more races0.5% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for In
In leans heavily female at 80.8% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
In as a male name
- Ranked #8,949 in 1992
- 5 male births in 1992
- Peak: 1992 (5 births)
In as a female name
- Ranked #11,106 in 1982
- 5 female births in 1982
- Peak: 1956 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows In on both sides of the split. Of the 3,499 people counted with this name, 1,359 were male (38.8%) and 2,140 were female (61.2%).
Popularity
In: popularity over time
The SSA tracks In from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 16 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, In remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
In 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 In during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ins live
Origin
Meaning and history of In
The name In is an unusual given name with a rich and fascinating history that spans multiple cultures and time periods. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Sumerian civilization in Mesopotamia, where it was derived from the word "in," which meant "lord" or "master." This name was often given to male children as a symbol of power and authority.
In the ancient Hindu tradition, the name In was associated with the god Indra, the king of the gods and the lord of rain and thunder. It was a popular name among the ruling classes and was thought to bring good luck and prosperity to the bearer.
The name In also has roots in the Celtic cultures of Europe, where it was derived from the word "inghean," meaning "daughter" or "maiden." In this context, it was often given to female children as a sign of beauty and grace.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name In can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian literary work dating back to around 2100 BCE. In this epic, a character named In is mentioned as a wise and powerful king.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name In. One of the most famous was In Sung-no (1334-1420), a Korean scholar and philosopher who played a significant role in the development of Neo-Confucianism in Korea.
Another noteworthy figure was In Hye-yong (1677-1748), a Korean painter and calligrapher who was renowned for her landscape paintings and her contributions to the development of the Nanga (Southern Painting) style.
In the realm of literature, In Kwon-soon (1923-1997) was a prominent South Korean writer and feminist who explored themes of gender, identity, and social justice in her works. Her novels and short stories were influential in shaping modern Korean literature.
In the field of science, In-Sung Ju (1944-2020) was a Korean-American computer scientist and entrepreneur who made significant contributions to the development of computer graphics and multimedia technologies.
Lastly, In Gee-chun (1922-2012) was a South Korean entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Hite Brewery Company and was known for his extensive charitable work and support for education.
These are just a few examples of the notable individuals who have carried the name In throughout history, each making their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human civilization.
People
In + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with In as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
In: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named In?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for In 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is In a common name?
We classify In as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26 babies have been registered with this name.
When was In most popular?
The single biggest year for In was 1956, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living In is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was In in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,493 people with the name In, or 1.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,044 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 In 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 In?
The 2020 Census sex table shows In on both sides of the split. Of the 3,499 people counted with this name, 1,359 were male (38.8%) and 2,140 were female (61.2%). 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 In?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named In is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.8%. The next largest groups are White (3.9%) and Hispanic (1.0%). 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 In most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named In in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.8% (3,278 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 In in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is In a female name?
Yes, 80.8% of people registered as In 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 In still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded In 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 In 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 common is the name In?
Find out how many Americans are named In on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.