Twan
A Dutch diminutive form of the masculine name Antoine or Anthony.
Name Census estimates that about 228 living Americans carry the first name Twan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Twan today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Twan births was 1973 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Twan. 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
228
~ 1 in 1,503,309 Americans
Peak year
1973
21 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,587
Tracked since 1965
Census
Twan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 385 people with the first name Twan, which placed it at #24,842 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
#24,842
National first-name rank
People counted
385
385 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
77.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Twan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Twan is Black at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%) and White (4.9%). 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 Twan 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 Twan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American77.1% · 297
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.6% · 41
- White4.9% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 14
- Two or more races3.4% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Twan
Twan leans heavily male at 88.9% of total registrations, but 27 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Twan as a male name
- Ranked #12,019 in 2021
- 6 male births in 2021
- Peak: 1973 (15 births)
Twan as a female name
- Ranked #9,587 in 1977
- 6 female births in 1977
- Peak: 1971 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Twan leans strongly male. 312 people counted with this name were male (81.5%), compared with 71 female bearers (18.5%).
Popularity
Twan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Twan from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 125 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
Twan 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 Twan 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 Twan
The name Twan is a variant of the Dutch name Toon, which is itself a shortened form of the name Antoon or Anton. It is derived from the Roman name Antonius, meaning "priceless" or "invaluable" in Latin. The name Antonius was borne by several notable figures in ancient Rome, including the Roman philosopher and military leader Marcus Antonius, who famously had an affair with Cleopatra.
The name Twan first emerged in the Netherlands and Belgium during the Middle Ages, where it was commonly used as a diminutive form of Antoon or Anton. It gained popularity in these regions and spread to other parts of Europe over time. While it is primarily associated with Dutch and Flemish cultures, the name has also been adopted in other countries with Dutch or Flemish influences.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Twan can be found in historical records from the 16th century. In 1583, a Dutch painter named Twan van der Crussen was born in Haarlem, Netherlands. He was known for his landscape paintings and contributed to the development of the Dutch Golden Age of painting.
Another notable figure with the name Twan was Twan Huys, a Dutch journalist and television presenter born in 1949. He hosted several popular talk shows and news programs in the Netherlands, becoming a prominent figure in Dutch media.
In the realm of sports, Twan Poels was a Dutch professional cyclist born in 1935. He competed in several prestigious cycling events, including the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, during the 1960s.
Twan van den Beuken, born in 1957, was a Dutch politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives for the Labour Party (PvdA) from 1998 to 2010. He played a significant role in shaping Dutch policies during his tenure.
Lastly, Twan Castelijns, born in 1957, is a Dutch singer and songwriter known for his contributions to the Dutch rock and pop music scene. He has released several successful albums and has been actively performing since the 1970s.
These examples illustrate the rich history and cultural significance of the name Twan, which has been borne by individuals from various fields, including art, journalism, sports, politics, and music, throughout the centuries.
People
Twan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Twan 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
Twan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Twan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 228 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Twan 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 1,503,309 US residents.
Is Twan a common name?
We classify Twan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 244 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Twan most popular?
The single biggest year for Twan was 1973, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Twan is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Twan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 385 people with the name Twan, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,842 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 Twan 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 Twan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Twan leans strongly male. 312 people counted with this name were male (81.5%), compared with 71 female bearers (18.5%). 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 Twan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Twan is Black at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%) and White (4.9%). 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 Twan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Twan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.1% (297 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 Twan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Twan a male name?
Yes, 88.9% of people registered as Twan 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 Twan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Twan 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 Twan 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 Twan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.