Kang
An East Asian given name meaning strong or healthy.
Name Census estimates that about 145 living Americans carry the first name Kang. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 71.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Kang today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kang births was 1983 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kang. 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 Kang with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
145
~ 1 in 2,363,823 Americans
Peak year
1983
23 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2012 SSA rank
#13,241
Tracked since 1980
Census
Kang in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,026 people with the first name Kang, which placed it at #7,509 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
#7,509
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,026 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kang
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kang is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.3%. The next largest groups are Black (1.6%) and White (1.4%). 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 Kang 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 Kang at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.3% · 1,952
- Black or African American1.6% · 33
- White1.4% · 28
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 7
- Two or more races0.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Kang
Kang is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 152 total registrations, 44 (28.9%) were male and 108 (71.1%) were female.
Kang as a male name
- Ranked #13,241 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 2000 (7 births)
Kang as a female name
- Ranked #14,469 in 1995
- 5 female births in 1995
- Peak: 1983 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kang on both sides of the split. Of the 2,023 people counted with this name, 1,408 were male (69.6%) and 615 were female (30.4%).
Popularity
Kang: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kang from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 85 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
Kang 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 Kang during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kangs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Kang
The given name Kang has its origins in Korean culture and language. It is a variation of the more common spelling "Gang", derived from the Korean word "gang" meaning "river" or "stream". The name Kang has been in use for centuries in Korea, with some of the earliest recorded examples dating back to the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392 CE).
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Kang was Kang Gamchan (1350-1421 CE), a prominent Confucian scholar and statesman during the Goryeo and Joseon Dynasties. He was known for his moral uprightness and contributions to the development of Neo-Confucian thought in Korea.
Another famous bearer of the name was Kang Sehwang (1713-1791 CE), a renowned Silhak (practical learning) scholar and social reformer during the Joseon Dynasty. He advocated for the advancement of science, technology, and pragmatic approaches to governance and social issues.
In the world of Korean literature, Kang Byeonggyeom (1820-1884 CE) was a prominent writer and poet of the late Joseon period. His works, including the novel "The Dream of Nine Clouds", are considered classics of Korean literary heritage.
Moving to more modern times, Kang Youwei (1858-1927 CE) was a Chinese scholar, philosopher, and reformist who played a significant role in the early 20th century reform movements in China. Although not Korean, his name is a variation of the same Korean origin.
Lastly, Kang Sok-ju (1925-2016 CE) was a North Korean politician and diplomat who served as the Vice Premier of North Korea and played a crucial role in negotiating with the United States and other countries on nuclear and diplomatic issues.
While the name Kang has its roots in Korean culture, it has also been adopted and used in other East Asian countries, particularly China and Japan, due to historical cultural exchange and migration. However, its origins can be traced back to the Korean peninsula and the rich linguistic and cultural heritage of the Korean people.
People
Kang + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kang as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kang: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kang?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 145 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kang 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 2,363,823 US residents.
Is Kang a common name?
We classify Kang as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kang most popular?
The single biggest year for Kang was 1983, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kang is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kang in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,026 people with the name Kang, or 0.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,509 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 Kang 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 Kang?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Kang on both sides of the split. Of the 2,023 people counted with this name, 1,408 were male (69.6%) and 615 were female (30.4%). 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 Kang?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kang is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.3%. The next largest groups are Black (1.6%) and White (1.4%). 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 Kang most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Kang in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (1,952 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 Kang in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kang a female name?
Yes, 71.1% of people registered as Kang 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 Kang still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kang 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 Kang 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 Americans are named Kang?
See how many Americans are named Kang on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.