Jinwoo
A Korean masculine name meaning "increasing wealth".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Jinwoo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Jinwoo today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jinwoo births was 2005 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jinwoo. 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 Jinwoo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
2005
5 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2007 SSA rank
#13,293
Tracked since 2005
Census
Jinwoo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 523 people with the first name Jinwoo, which placed it at #19,947 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
#19,947
National first-name rank
People counted
523
523 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jinwoo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jinwoo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Black (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 Jinwoo 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 Jinwoo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.4% · 504
- White1.3% · 7
- Black or African American1.0% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 5
- Two or more races0.4% · 2
Popularity
Jinwoo: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Jinwoo 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 Jinwoo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Jinwoo
The name Jinwoo has its origins in Korean culture, where it is a male given name. It is a combination of two Korean words, "jin" meaning "true" or "real," and "woo" meaning "great" or "mighty." The name is believed to have been in use since ancient times, though its precise origins are obscure.
Linguistically, the name Jinwoo is rooted in the Korean language, which belongs to the Koreanic language family. Its earliest known recorded instances can be traced back to historical Korean texts and records from the Three Kingdoms period (57 BCE - 668 CE), though it may have been in use even earlier.
In terms of historical references, the name Jinwoo has been associated with several notable figures throughout Korean history. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Jinwoo Yi (1087-1163), a respected military commander and scholar during the Goryeo Dynasty. His military strategies and leadership played a crucial role in defending the kingdom against foreign invasions.
Another significant figure was Jinwoo Kim (1574-1629), a prominent Confucian scholar and government official during the Joseon Dynasty. He is renowned for his contributions to Korean literature and his unwavering commitment to ethical principles.
In more recent times, Jinwoo Park (1915-1991) was a celebrated South Korean novelist and poet, known for his works exploring the human condition and social issues. His novels, such as "The Mudflat" and "The Eternal Wanderer," have left a lasting impact on Korean literature.
Jinwoo Choi (1940-2009) was a renowned South Korean film director and screenwriter, whose works often portrayed the struggles of ordinary people and explored themes of social justice. His films, such as "A Flower in Hell" and "The Stable Boy," have been widely acclaimed and have influenced generations of filmmakers.
Lastly, Jinwoo Shin (born 1979) is a South Korean professional baseball player who has played for various teams in the KBO League (Korean Baseball Organization). He is considered one of the greatest players in Korean baseball history, known for his exceptional batting skills and numerous records.
While these are just a few examples, the name Jinwoo has been borne by many other notable individuals throughout Korean history, reflecting its enduring presence and cultural significance.
People
Jinwoo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jinwoo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jinwoo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jinwoo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jinwoo 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Jinwoo a common name?
We classify Jinwoo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jinwoo most popular?
The single biggest year for Jinwoo was 2005, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jinwoo is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jinwoo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 523 people with the name Jinwoo, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,947 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 Jinwoo 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 Jinwoo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jinwoo leans strongly male. 517 people counted with this name were male (96.8%), compared with 17 female bearers (3.2%). 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 Jinwoo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jinwoo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Black (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 Jinwoo most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Jinwoo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (504 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 Jinwoo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jinwoo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jinwoo 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 Jinwoo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jinwoo 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 Jinwoo 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 have the name Jinwoo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.