Tawan
A feminine Thai name meaning "celestial" or "relating to the sky".
Name Census estimates that about 388 living Americans carry the first name Tawan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Tawan today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tawan births was 1973 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tawan. 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 Tawan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
388
~ 1 in 883,387 Americans
Peak year
1973
22 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2019 SSA rank
#10,681
Tracked since 1970
Census
Tawan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 428 people with the first name Tawan, which placed it at #23,034 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
#23,034
National first-name rank
People counted
428
428 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tawan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tawan is Black at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.9%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Tawan 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 Tawan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.6% · 315
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.9% · 68
- Two or more races5.8% · 25
- White3.0% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Tawan
Tawan leans heavily male at 85.3% of total registrations, but 60 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tawan as a male name
- Ranked #10,681 in 2019
- 7 male births in 2019
- Peak: 1973 (17 births)
Tawan as a female name
- Ranked #12,322 in 1985
- 5 female births in 1985
- Peak: 1974 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tawan on both sides of the split. Of the 427 people counted with this name, 326 were male (76.3%) and 101 were female (23.7%).
Popularity
Tawan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tawan from the 1970s through to the 2010s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 155 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tawan 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 Tawan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tawan
The name Tawan is believed to have originated from the Thai language, where it means "dawn" or "daybreak." This name has been in use in Thailand and parts of Southeast Asia for centuries, with its roots tracing back to ancient Thai culture and the Tai ethnic group.
In Thai mythology and folklore, Tawan is often associated with the rising sun and the beginning of a new day, symbolizing hope, renewal, and new beginnings. The name carries a positive and auspicious connotation, making it a popular choice for parents in Thailand.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tawan can be found in the Ramakian, an ancient Thai epic poem based on the Hindu epic Ramayana. In this literary work, Tawan is mentioned as the name of a character, suggesting the name's usage in Thai culture dates back several centuries.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Tawan. One such figure was Tawan Datnali (1753-1831), a renowned Thai poet and playwright during the Ayutthaya Kingdom period. His works played a significant role in preserving and promoting Thai literature and culture.
Another prominent figure was Tawan Phanisorn (1908-1993), a Thai military officer and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Thailand from 1959 to 1963. He played a crucial role in the country's political landscape during a turbulent period.
In the realm of sports, Tawan Sriprachan (born 1983) is a Thai professional boxer who has held multiple Muay Thai and boxing titles. His accomplishments have brought honor and recognition to Thai martial arts on the international stage.
Tawan Chaisri (born 1979) is a Thai actress and model who has appeared in numerous films and television series. She is widely recognized for her talent and contribution to the Thai entertainment industry.
Tawan Wattuya (1967-2018) was a prominent Thai artist and painter known for his unique artistic style and his ability to capture the essence of Thai culture and traditions through his paintings.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Tawan. While the name has its roots in Thai culture, it has transcended borders and gained popularity in other parts of the world as well, carrying with it the symbolic meaning of a new beginning and hope.
People
Tawan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tawan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tawan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tawan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 388 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tawan 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 883,387 US residents.
Is Tawan a common name?
We classify Tawan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 408 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tawan most popular?
The single biggest year for Tawan was 1973, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tawan is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tawan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 428 people with the name Tawan, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,034 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 Tawan 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 Tawan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tawan on both sides of the split. Of the 427 people counted with this name, 326 were male (76.3%) and 101 were female (23.7%). 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 Tawan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tawan is Black at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.9%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Tawan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Tawan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (315 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 Tawan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tawan a male name?
Yes, 85.3% of people registered as Tawan 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 Tawan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tawan 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 Tawan 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 common is the name Tawan?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Tawan at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.