Trai
A name of Vietnamese origin meaning "youth" or "young man".
Name Census estimates that about 272 living Americans carry the first name Trai. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Trai today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Trai births was 1993 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Trai. 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 Trai with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
272
~ 1 in 1,260,126 Americans
Peak year
1993
27 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2021 SSA rank
#10,693
Tracked since 1986
Census
Trai in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 479 people with the first name Trai, which placed it at #21,270 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
#21,270
National first-name rank
People counted
479
479 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
41.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Trai
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Trai is Asian/Pacific Islander at 41.1%. The next largest groups are White (24.8%) and Black (24.4%). 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 Trai 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 Trai at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander41.1% · 197
- White24.8% · 119
- Black or African American24.4% · 117
- Two or more races6.1% · 29
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 17
Popularity
Trai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Trai from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 158 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Trai 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 Trai 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 Trai
The name Trai finds its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture. It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period in Vietnam, around the 10th to 15th centuries. The name is derived from the ancient Vietnamese word "trai," which means "left" or "leftward." In ancient Vietnamese culture, the concepts of left and right held significant symbolic meanings, often associated with balance, direction, and harmony.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Trai can be found in the Dai Viet Su Ky Toan Thu, a historical text dating back to the 15th century. This ancient chronicle documented the lives and reigns of Vietnamese rulers and nobles, some of whom bore the name Trai. However, precise details about the individuals and their significance are scarce due to the passage of time.
Throughout Vietnamese history, several notable figures have carried the name Trai. One such individual was Trai Nguyen, a renowned Vietnamese poet and philosopher who lived during the 16th century. His works, which explored themes of Confucianism and Buddhism, had a profound impact on Vietnamese literature and thought.
Another historical figure of note was Trai Tran, a military commander who played a pivotal role in the Tran Dynasty's resistance against the Mongol invasions in the 13th century. His strategic leadership and bravery during the battles against the Mongol forces earned him a place in Vietnamese history as a national hero.
In the realm of art and culture, Trai Nguyen Dinh, a celebrated Vietnamese painter and calligrapher of the 18th century, left a lasting legacy with his intricate and masterful works. His paintings and calligraphic pieces are highly regarded and showcased in various museums and galleries around the world.
Moving forward in time, Trai Pham Van Dong, a prominent Vietnamese politician and diplomat, played a significant role in the country's independence movement and later served as the Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1955 to 1976. His contributions to Vietnam's reunification and the establishment of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam are widely recognized.
It is worth noting that while the name Trai has been borne by numerous individuals throughout Vietnamese history, its usage and popularity have fluctuated over time, reflecting the ever-changing cultural and societal trends. Nevertheless, the name remains deeply rooted in Vietnamese heritage and continues to hold symbolic significance in the country's cultural tapestry.
People
Trai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Trai 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
Trai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Trai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 272 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Trai 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 1,260,126 US residents.
Is Trai a common name?
We classify Trai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Trai most popular?
The single biggest year for Trai was 1993, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Trai is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Trai in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 479 people with the name Trai, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,270 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 Trai 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 Trai?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Trai leans strongly male. 421 people counted with this name were male (88.4%), compared with 55 female bearers (11.6%). 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 Trai?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Trai is Asian/Pacific Islander at 41.1%. The next largest groups are White (24.8%) and Black (24.4%). 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 Trai most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Trai in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.1% (197 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 Trai in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Trai a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Trai 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 Trai still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Trai 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 Trai 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 Trai as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.