Phuong
A feminine Vietnamese name meaning "Phoenix" or "fragrant flower".
Name Census estimates that about 1,250 living Americans carry the first name Phuong. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Phuong today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Phuong births was 1982 (108 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Phuong. 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 Phuong with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 274,203 Americans
Peak year
1982
108 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1997 SSA rank
#8,975
Tracked since 1975
Census
Phuong in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 20,358 people with the first name Phuong, which placed it at #1,584 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
#1,584
National first-name rank
People counted
20K
20,358 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
6.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Phuong
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phuong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and White (0.5%). 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 Phuong 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 Phuong at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.4% · 20,024
- Two or more races0.8% · 156
- White0.5% · 111
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 43
- Black or African American0.1% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Phuong
Phuong is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,315 total registrations, 282 (21.4%) were male and 1,033 (78.6%) were female.
Phuong as a male name
- Ranked #8,975 in 1997
- 6 male births in 1997
- Peak: 1981 (29 births)
Phuong as a female name
- Ranked #18,624 in 2013
- 5 female births in 2013
- Peak: 1982 (87 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phuong leans strongly female. 16,549 people counted with this name were female (81.3%), compared with 3,815 male bearers (18.7%).
Popularity
Phuong: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Phuong from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 763 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
Phuong 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 Phuong during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Phuongs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Phuong, while Colorado, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Phuong
The name Phuong has its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture. It is a gender-neutral name that means "phoenix" or "orient," symbolizing rebirth, renewal, and the rising sun.
Phuong is derived from the ancient Chinese word "fenghuang," which refers to the mythical bird that represents the union of the celestial entities known as the male Feng and the female Huang. This mythical creature holds significant importance in East Asian mythology and is often associated with high virtue, grace, and prosperity.
The name Phuong can be traced back to ancient Vietnamese texts and literature, where it was often used to describe the beauty and resilience of the Vietnamese people. It was a popular name among the Vietnamese nobility and upper classes during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Phuong comes from the 10th century, when a Vietnamese princess named Phuong Linh was renowned for her beauty and intelligence. She was known for her diplomatic skills and played a crucial role in strengthening the relationship between the Vietnamese and Chinese empires.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Phuong. Phuong Khau (1528-1613) was a revered Vietnamese scholar and poet who made significant contributions to the development of the Vietnamese language and literature. His works are still studied and celebrated today.
Phuong Hoang (1768-1839) was a Vietnamese military leader and strategist who led the Tay Son rebellion against the Nguyen Lords in the late 18th century. He is revered as a national hero in Vietnam for his role in overthrowing the corrupt regime and establishing a new dynasty.
Phuong Dong (1908-1975) was a Vietnamese painter and artist who is considered a pioneer of modern Vietnamese art. His works blended traditional Vietnamese aesthetics with Western artistic influences, and he played a significant role in shaping the country's contemporary art scene.
Phuong Khanh (1927-2008) was a renowned Vietnamese actress and singer who was considered one of the most influential figures in the entertainment industry during the mid-20th century. She was celebrated for her beauty, talent, and contribution to the preservation of traditional Vietnamese art forms.
Phuong Canh (1936-2020) was a Vietnamese novelist and short story writer who gained international recognition for his critically acclaimed works that explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition. His novels were widely translated and celebrated for their poetic language and emotional depth.
People
Phuong + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Phuong as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Phuong: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Phuong?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,250 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Phuong 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 274,203 US residents.
Is Phuong a common name?
We classify Phuong as "Rare". It ranks above 91.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,315 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Phuong most popular?
The single biggest year for Phuong was 1982, when 108 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Phuong is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Phuong in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 20,358 people with the name Phuong, or 6.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,584 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 Phuong 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 Phuong?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Phuong leans strongly female. 16,549 people counted with this name were female (81.3%), compared with 3,815 male bearers (18.7%). 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 Phuong?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Phuong is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and White (0.5%). 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 Phuong most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Phuong in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.4% (20,024 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 Phuong in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Phuong a female name?
Yes, 78.6% of people registered as Phuong 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 Phuong still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Phuong 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 Phuong 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 share the name Phuong?
Want to know how many people share the name Phuong? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.