Toan
A masculine Vietnamese name derived from the word "toàn" meaning complete or whole.
Name Census estimates that about 391 living Americans carry the first name Toan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Toan today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toan births was 1983 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toan. 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.
People living today
391
~ 1 in 876,610 Americans
Peak year
1983
38 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2018 SSA rank
#13,900
Tracked since 1978
Census
Toan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,047 people with the first name Toan, which placed it at #4,550 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
#4,550
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
4,047 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Toan 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 Toan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.5% · 3,945
- White1.2% · 47
- Two or more races0.5% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 18
- Black or African American0.3% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Toan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toan 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 209 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
Toan 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 Toan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Toans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Toan, while Louisiana, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Toan
The name Toan has its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture. It is believed to have emerged in the 15th century, during the reign of the Later Le Dynasty in Vietnam. Toan is derived from the Middle Vietnamese word "toàn," which means "whole," "complete," or "perfect."
This name likely originated as a way to express a wish for a child to live a complete and fulfilling life. In ancient Vietnamese texts and poetry, the word "toàn" was often used to convey a sense of wholeness, balance, and harmony, which were highly valued in Vietnamese philosophy and culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Toan can be found in the annals of the Nguyen Dynasty, which ruled Vietnam from 1802 to 1945. Toan Thi Tuong (1839-1913) was a prominent Vietnamese scholar and philosopher who wrote extensively on Confucian principles and their application to Vietnamese society.
Another notable figure bearing the name Toan was Toan Thi Nham (1590-1677), a revered Vietnamese educator and Confucian scholar who established several schools and academies during his lifetime. His teachings and writings had a profound influence on Vietnamese education and intellectual thought.
In the realm of literature, Toan Thu Van (1785-1848) was a celebrated Vietnamese poet and calligrapher. His works are considered masterpieces of classical Vietnamese literature and have been widely studied and appreciated for their beauty and depth.
Moving into the modern era, Toan Nguyen (1913-1990) was a notable Vietnamese artist and painter who was renowned for his depictions of rural life and landscapes. His works are highly regarded in Vietnam and have been exhibited internationally.
Lastly, Toan Anh Nguyen (born 1971) is a contemporary Vietnamese-American author and playwright. His works explore themes of identity, immigration, and the Vietnamese diaspora experience, providing valuable insights into the complexities of cross-cultural experiences.
Despite its ancient roots, the name Toan continues to be popular in Vietnam and among Vietnamese communities worldwide, carrying with it the cultural significance of wholeness, balance, and a life lived to its fullest potential.
People
Toan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toan 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
Toan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 391 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toan 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 876,610 US residents.
Is Toan a common name?
We classify Toan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 405 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toan most popular?
The single biggest year for Toan was 1983, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toan is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Toan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,047 people with the name Toan, or 1.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,550 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 Toan 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 Toan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toan leans strongly male. 3,737 people counted with this name were male (92.4%), compared with 307 female bearers (7.6%). 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 Toan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Toan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Toan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.5% (3,945 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 Toan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Toan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Toan 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 Toan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Toan 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 Toan 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 have Toan as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.