Man
A name for an adult male human being of the species Homo sapiens.
Name Census estimates that about 252 living Americans carry the first name Man. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Man today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Man births was 2017 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Man. 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 Man with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
252
~ 1 in 1,360,136 Americans
Peak year
2017
18 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2020 SSA rank
#13,333
Tracked since 1884
Census
Man in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 23,983 people with the first name Man, which placed it at #1,421 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
#1,421
National first-name rank
People counted
24K
23,983 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Man
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Man is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.0%) and Hispanic (19.7%). 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 Man 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 Man at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.4% · 9,691
- Asian and Pacific Islander27.0% · 6,465
- Hispanic or Latino19.7% · 4,724
- Black or African American11.1% · 2,654
- Two or more races1.0% · 228
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 221
Gender
Gender distribution for Man
Man is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 357 total registrations, 207 (58.0%) were male and 150 (42.0%) were female.
Man as a male name
- Ranked #13,333 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 1982 (10 births)
Man as a female name
- Ranked #16,738 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Man leans strongly male. 20,972 people counted with this name were male (87.5%), compared with 3,007 female bearers (12.5%).
Popularity
Man: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Man from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 105 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Man remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Man 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 Man during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Oklahoma, California, New York recorded the most babies named Man, while New York, California, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Man
The name Man is an ancient given name that originates from the Sanskrit language, which was spoken in the Indian subcontinent during the Iron Age. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "manas," which means "mind" or "intellect." It was a popular name among the Brahmin caste in ancient India and was often given to individuals who were considered to be wise or intellectually gifted.
The earliest recorded use of the name Man can be found in the Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, which date back to around 1500 BCE. In these texts, the name is often associated with philosophical and spiritual concepts, reflecting the importance of the mind and intellect in Hindu traditions.
One of the most famous individuals named Man in ancient India was Man Singh I, who ruled the kingdom of Amber (now part of Rajasthan) from 1589 to 1614 CE. He was a skilled military leader and a patron of the arts, and his reign saw the construction of many architectural marvels, including the Amber Fort.
In the field of literature, Man Singh Dhadha (1933-2023) was a renowned Punjabi poet and writer who made significant contributions to the literary landscape of Punjab. His works explored themes of social justice, human rights, and the struggles of the common people.
Another notable figure with the name Man was Man Mohan Adhikari (1920-1999), a Nepali scholar and writer who played a crucial role in preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of Nepal. He was instrumental in establishing the Royal Nepal Academy and served as its first vice-chancellor.
In the realm of sports, Man Kaur (born in 1916) is a remarkable Indian athlete who has set numerous world records in track and field events for her age group. She began competing in her nineties and continues to inspire people around the world with her dedication and determination.
While the name Man has its roots in ancient India, it has since spread to other parts of the world, particularly in regions where Indian diaspora communities have settled. However, its usage as a given name remains relatively uncommon outside of South Asia.
People
Man + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Man as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Man: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Man?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 252 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Man 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 1,360,136 US residents.
Is Man a common name?
We classify Man as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 357 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Man most popular?
The single biggest year for Man was 2017, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Man is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Man in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 23,983 people with the name Man, or 7.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,421 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 Man 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 Man?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Man leans strongly male. 20,972 people counted with this name were male (87.5%), compared with 3,007 female bearers (12.5%). 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 Man?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Man is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (27.0%) and Hispanic (19.7%). 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 Man most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Man in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.4% (9,691 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 Man in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Man a male name?
Yes, 58.0% of people registered as Man 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 Man still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Man 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 Man 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 are called Man?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.