Nam
An East and Southeast Asian masculine name meaning peace and calm.
Name Census estimates that about 1,357 living Americans carry the first name Nam. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Nam today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nam births was 1984 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nam. 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 Nam with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 252,582 Americans
Peak year
1984
58 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,730
Tracked since 1975
Census
Nam in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,636 people with the first name Nam, which placed it at #2,713 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
#2,713
National first-name rank
People counted
8.6K
8,636 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nam
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nam is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Nam 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 Nam at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.4% · 8,239
- White1.8% · 154
- Black or African American1.2% · 101
- Two or more races0.8% · 71
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Popularity
Nam: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nam from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 458 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
Nam 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 Nam during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nams live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Nam, while Washington, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 88 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nam
The name Nam is believed to have originated from the Sanskrit language in ancient India. Sanskrit, one of the oldest Indo-European languages, was the literary and scholarly language used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The name Nam is derived from the Sanskrit word "nama," which means "name" or "appellation."
In Hindu mythology and scriptures, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, the concept of "nama" (name) held significant spiritual and philosophical importance. It was believed that a name carried inherent power and could influence the personality and destiny of an individual. The name Nam, being rooted in this ancient Sanskrit word, may have been chosen for its symbolic association with identity and individuality.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nam can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE. In the epic, there is a character named Nam Sahitya, who was a renowned scholar and grammarian renowned for his mastery of the Sanskrit language.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Nam. For example, Nam Phuong (1215-1298 CE), a Vietnamese Buddhist monk and poet, was a prominent figure during the Tran Dynasty. His writings and teachings influenced the spread of Buddhism in Vietnam and left a lasting impact on the country's cultural and spiritual heritage.
Another famous Nam was Nam Tran (1355-1428 CE), a Vietnamese military strategist and general who played a crucial role in defending Vietnam against Chinese invasions during the Ming Dynasty. His tactical skills and leadership were instrumental in preserving Vietnam's independence and sovereignty.
In the realm of literature, Nam Cao (1917-1951 CE) was a celebrated Vietnamese writer and journalist known for his short stories and novels depicting rural life in Vietnam. His works, such as "The Peasant Destiny" and "The Grass for My Horses," are considered classics of Vietnamese literature and have been widely translated and studied.
Moving to the modern era, Nam June Paik (1932-2006 CE) was a Korean-American artist widely recognized as a pioneer of video art and multimedia installations. His innovative use of television sets and electronic media challenged traditional notions of art and paved the way for new forms of artistic expression.
Lastly, Nam Huynh (1950-1989 CE) was a Vietnamese-American playwright and actor who made significant contributions to the representation of Asian Americans in theater and film. His plays, such as "The Wonderful Insignificance of Life" and "How I Got That Story," explored themes of identity, cultural assimilation, and the immigrant experience.
People
Nam + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nam as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nam: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nam?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,357 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nam 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 252,582 US residents.
Is Nam a common name?
We classify Nam as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nam most popular?
The single biggest year for Nam was 1984, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nam is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nam in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,636 people with the name Nam, or 2.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,713 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 Nam 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 Nam?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Nam on both sides of the split. Of the 8,645 people counted with this name, 6,577 were male (76.1%) and 2,068 were female (23.9%). 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 Nam?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nam is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Nam most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Nam in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.4% (8,239 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 Nam in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nam a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nam 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 Nam still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nam 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 Nam 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 Nam?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.