Tuyen
An East and Southeast Asian feminine name meaning "shining" or "beautiful".
Name Census estimates that about 177 living Americans carry the first name Tuyen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Tuyen today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tuyen births was 1982 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tuyen. 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
177
~ 1 in 1,936,465 Americans
Peak year
1982
22 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1985 SSA rank
#5,741
Tracked since 1980
Census
Tuyen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,166 people with the first name Tuyen, which placed it at #4,469 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
#4,469
National first-name rank
People counted
4.2K
4,166 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
98.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tuyen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tuyen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.2%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Tuyen 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 Tuyen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander98.2% · 4,093
- White0.7% · 28
- Two or more races0.6% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 9
- Black or African American0.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Tuyen
Tuyen leans heavily female at 86.0% of total registrations, but 26 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tuyen as a male name
- Ranked #5,741 in 1985
- 7 male births in 1985
- Peak: 1980 (7 births)
Tuyen as a female name
- Ranked #16,795 in 1999
- 5 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1982 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tuyen on both sides of the split. Of the 4,163 people counted with this name, 1,335 were male (32.1%) and 2,828 were female (67.9%).
Popularity
Tuyen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tuyen from the 1980s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 125 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Tuyen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tuyen 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 Tuyen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Tuyens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Tuyen, while Massachusetts, Louisiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Tuyen
The name Tuyen is of Vietnamese origin, derived from the Chinese characters "秀彥" which translate to "outstanding person" or "excellent man." It is a unisex name, although more commonly used for males in Vietnam.
This name has been in use since ancient times in Vietnam, with records dating back to the 3rd century AD during the periods of Chinese domination. The name was popular among scholars and officials who aspired to excellence and sought to emulate the virtues embodied by the characters.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Tuyen was Ly Tuyen, a renowned Vietnamese poet and calligrapher who lived during the 11th century. His works, particularly his poetry, are still studied and celebrated in Vietnam today.
In the 13th century, there was a famous Vietnamese general named Tran Tuyen who played a pivotal role in the battles against the Mongol invasions. His strategic prowess and unwavering leadership were instrumental in preserving Vietnam's independence during that tumultuous period.
Another notable figure was Ngo Tuyen, a 16th-century Vietnamese scholar and philosopher. He authored several influential works on Confucian thought and ethics, which had a lasting impact on Vietnamese culture and education.
During the 19th century, Tuyen Nguyen was a prominent Vietnamese poet and writer who contributed significantly to the literary renaissance of the time. His works often reflected on the social and political issues of his era, and he is regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Vietnamese literature.
In more recent history, Tuyen Quang was a revolutionary and military leader who played a crucial role in the Vietnamese struggle for independence against French colonial rule in the early 20th century. He is remembered as a dedicated patriot and a symbol of resilience in the face of adversity.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Tuyen throughout history, reflecting the strong cultural and historical significance of this name in Vietnam.
People
Tuyen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tuyen 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
Tuyen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tuyen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 177 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tuyen 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 1,936,465 US residents.
Is Tuyen a common name?
We classify Tuyen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 186 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tuyen most popular?
The single biggest year for Tuyen was 1982, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tuyen 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 Tuyen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,166 people with the name Tuyen, or 1.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,469 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 Tuyen 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 Tuyen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Tuyen on both sides of the split. Of the 4,163 people counted with this name, 1,335 were male (32.1%) and 2,828 were female (67.9%). 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 Tuyen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tuyen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 98.2%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) and Two or More Races (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 Tuyen most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Tuyen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.2% (4,093 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 Tuyen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tuyen a female name?
Yes, 86.0% of people registered as Tuyen in the SSA data are female. 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 Tuyen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tuyen 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 Tuyen 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 share the name Tuyen?
Want to know how many people share the name Tuyen? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.