Thanh
A Vietnamese name meaning green, fresh, or young.
Name Census estimates that about 1,682 living Americans carry the first name Thanh. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 62.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Thanh today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thanh births was 1981 (103 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thanh. 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 Thanh with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Thanh sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 203,778 Americans
Peak year
1981
103 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,869
Tracked since 1976
Census
Thanh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 22,791 people with the first name Thanh, which placed it at #1,474 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
#1,474
National first-name rank
People counted
23K
22,791 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thanh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thanh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and White (0.6%). 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 Thanh 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 Thanh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.1% · 22,356
- Two or more races0.8% · 183
- White0.6% · 138
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 80
- Black or African American0.1% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Thanh
Thanh is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,749 total registrations, 1,099 (62.8%) were male and 650 (37.2%) were female.
Thanh as a male name
- Ranked #13,869 in 2021
- 5 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1982 (74 births)
Thanh as a female name
- Ranked #14,437 in 2014
- 7 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1985 (40 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Thanh on both sides of the split. Of the 22,782 people counted with this name, 14,126 were male (62.0%) and 8,656 were female (38.0%).
Popularity
Thanh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thanh 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 793 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
Thanh 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 Thanh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thanhs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Thanh, while Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Thanh
The name Thanh originates from the Vietnamese language, where it means "pure" or "holy." Its roots can be traced back to ancient Vietnamese culture and traditions, with the name carrying significant cultural and spiritual significance.
In Vietnamese, the word "thanh" is often associated with purity, innocence, and virtuous qualities. It was commonly given to children with the hope that they would embody these positive traits throughout their lives.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Thanh can be found in ancient Vietnamese literature and historical records dating back to the early centuries of the common era. It was a popular name among royalty and nobility, as well as among Buddhist monks and scholars.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Thanh was Thanh Tong, a Vietnamese emperor who ruled from 1460 to 1497. He was known for his efforts to promote education and maintain peace within his kingdom.
Another notable figure in Vietnamese history was Thanh Hien, a renowned poet and scholar who lived during the 18th century. His works are still studied and revered in Vietnam today.
In the realm of Buddhism, Thanh Tri was a highly respected Vietnamese monk and teacher who lived in the 17th century. He was renowned for his wisdom and his dedication to spreading the teachings of Buddhism throughout Vietnam.
Moving into more recent times, Thanh Nguyen was a prominent Vietnamese artist and painter who lived from 1926 to 2009. His works captured the beauty and essence of Vietnamese culture, earning him widespread recognition both within Vietnam and internationally.
Finally, Thanh Lam is a celebrated Vietnamese singer and songwriter who has been active since the 1980s. Known for her powerful vocals and her ability to blend traditional Vietnamese music with contemporary styles, she has gained a dedicated following both in Vietnam and among the Vietnamese diaspora.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Thanh, a name that has endured for centuries and continues to hold significant cultural and spiritual meaning within the Vietnamese tradition.
People
Thanh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thanh 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
Thanh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thanh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,682 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thanh 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 203,778 US residents.
Is Thanh a common name?
We classify Thanh as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,749 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thanh most popular?
The single biggest year for Thanh was 1981, when 103 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thanh is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thanh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 22,791 people with the name Thanh, or 7.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,474 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 Thanh 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 Thanh?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Thanh on both sides of the split. Of the 22,782 people counted with this name, 14,126 were male (62.0%) and 8,656 were female (38.0%). 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 Thanh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thanh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.1%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.8%) and White (0.6%). 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 Thanh most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Thanh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.1% (22,356 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 Thanh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thanh a male name?
Yes, 62.8% of people registered as Thanh 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 Thanh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thanh 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 Thanh 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 Thanh?
See how many people share the name Thanh on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.