Sophan
A masculine name of Khmer origin meaning "intelligent" or "wise."
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Sophan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sophan today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sophan births was 1985 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sophan. 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 Sophan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
1985
8 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1985 SSA rank
#5,085
Tracked since 1985
Census
Sophan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 220 people with the first name Sophan, which placed it at #36,203 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
#36,203
National first-name rank
People counted
220
220 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sophan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sophan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Black (1.4%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.9%). 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 Sophan 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 Sophan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.7% · 215
- Black or African American1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 2
Popularity
Sophan: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Sophan 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 Sophan 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 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Sophan
The name Sophan is derived from the Sanskrit language and has its origins in ancient India. It is a masculine name that has been in use for centuries, with records dating back to the Vedic period of Indian history (circa 1500 BCE - 500 BCE).
One of the earliest known references to the name Sophan can be found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a renowned scholar and teacher. The name is believed to have been derived from the Sanskrit word "shubh," which means "auspicious" or "fortunate."
In the later centuries, the name Sophan gained popularity across various regions of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in the areas that are now known as modern-day India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. It was commonly used by members of the Brahmin caste, who were traditionally associated with education and scholarly pursuits.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Sophan was Sophan Bhatta, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 8th century CE. He is credited with writing several influential works on grammar, philosophy, and linguistics, including the treatise "Shiksha-Pada-Chandrika."
Another notable figure with the name Sophan was Sophan Chandra Vidyaratna, a 19th-century Bengali scholar and educator. He was a prominent figure in the Bengali Renaissance movement and played a significant role in promoting education and social reform in Bengal.
In more recent times, Sophan was the name of Sophan Sing, a revered Buddhist monk and teacher who lived in Thailand in the early 20th century. He was known for his wisdom and his efforts in promoting Buddhist teachings and values.
Another prominent individual with the name Sophan was Sophan Seng, a Cambodian politician and diplomat who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia from 1993 to 1997. He played a crucial role in the peace process and the transition to democracy in Cambodia after decades of civil war and conflict.
Sophan Mohori was a renowned Bangladeshi writer and poet who lived in the 20th century. He was known for his works that explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition, and his poetry is widely studied and celebrated in Bangladesh and beyond.
The name Sophan has maintained its significance and popularity across various cultures and regions, especially in South and Southeast Asia, where it is still commonly used and revered for its auspicious and scholarly connotations.
People
Sophan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sophan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Sophan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sophan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sophan 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Sophan a common name?
We classify Sophan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sophan most popular?
The single biggest year for Sophan was 1985, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sophan 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 Sophan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 220 people with the name Sophan, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,203 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 Sophan 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 Sophan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Sophan on both sides of the split. Of the 227 people counted with this name, 117 were male (51.5%) and 110 were female (48.5%). 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 Sophan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sophan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Black (1.4%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.9%). 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 Sophan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Sophan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.7% (215 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 Sophan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sophan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sophan 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 Sophan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sophan 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 Sophan 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 Sophan?
See how many Americans are named Sophan on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.