Luong
An unisex Vietnamese name potentially meaning "feather" or "stream".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Luong. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Luong today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Luong births was 1983 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Luong. 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 Luong. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1983
5 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1983 SSA rank
#6,906
Tracked since 1983
Census
Luong in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,719 people with the first name Luong, which placed it at #8,438 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
#8,438
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,719 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Luong
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.6%) and White (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 Luong 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 Luong at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.6% · 1,695
- Two or more races0.6% · 10
- White0.4% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Luong: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Luong 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 Luong during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Luong
The name Luong has its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture. It is a unisex name that has been in use for centuries, with recorded instances dating back to the 12th century.
One of the earliest known references to the name Luong can be found in the literary work "The Tale of Kieu" by the renowned Vietnamese poet Nguyen Du, written in the early 19th century. In this epic poem, one of the characters bears the name Luong.
Linguistically, the name Luong is believed to be derived from the ancient Vietnamese word "luong," which means "good" or "virtuous." This suggests that the name may have been initially bestowed upon individuals who were perceived as possessing admirable moral qualities.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Luong. One of the earliest recorded figures was Luong Van Can (1854-1927), a Vietnamese scholar and reformist who played a significant role in advocating for educational and social reforms during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another prominent Luong was Luong Dinh Cua (1910-1988), a Vietnamese painter and sculptor who is renowned for his contributions to the development of modern Vietnamese art. His works are celebrated for their fusion of traditional Vietnamese aesthetics with contemporary artistic styles.
In the realm of literature, Luong Xuan Nhi (1914-1985) was a celebrated Vietnamese poet and writer whose works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition. Her poetry collections, such as "Tho Xuan" (Spring Poetry), have left an indelible mark on Vietnamese literature.
The name Luong has also been associated with individuals in the field of science and technology. Luong Dinh Cua (1920-2010), a Vietnamese-American physicist, made significant contributions to the development of laser technology and held numerous patents in the United States.
Finally, in the world of sports, Luong Xuan Vinh (born 1974) is a notable figure, having won Vietnam's first-ever Olympic gold medal in the men's 10m air pistol event at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Luong, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of Vietnamese culture and society.
People
Luong + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Luong as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Luong: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Luong?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Luong 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Luong a common name?
We classify Luong as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Luong most popular?
The single biggest year for Luong was 1983, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Luong is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Luong in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,719 people with the name Luong, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,438 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 Luong 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 Luong?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Luong on both sides of the split. Of the 1,718 people counted with this name, 1,272 were male (74.0%) and 446 were female (26.0%). 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 Luong?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.6%) and White (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 Luong most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Luong in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (1,695 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 Luong in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Luong a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Luong 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 Luong still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Luong 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 Luong 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 Luong?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Luong, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.