Woo
Derives from a Korean surname meaning "leader" or "head of something".
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Woo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Woo today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Woo births was 1978 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Woo. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Woo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1978
5 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
1981 SSA rank
#7,262
Tracked since 1978
Census
Woo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,055 people with the first name Woo, which placed it at #11,962 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
#11,962
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,055 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
94.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Woo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Woo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Woo 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 Woo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander94.1% · 993
- White3.2% · 34
- Black or African American1.2% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 10
- Two or more races0.5% · 5
Popularity
Woo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Woo from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Woo 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 Woo 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 Woo
The name Woo has its origins in the Korean language and culture, dating back several centuries. It is believed to have derived from the Korean word "woo-ri," which means "our" or "us," reflecting a sense of community and togetherness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Woo can be found in the Samguk Sagi, a historical record of the Three Kingdoms period in ancient Korea (57 BCE - 935 CE). This text mentions a prominent figure named Woo Bok-je, who was a general and advisor to King Muryeong of Baekje during the 6th century.
In the realm of religion, the name Woo is also associated with Buddhism, particularly in East Asian cultures. The Buddhist monk Woo Zhun, who lived in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE), is renowned for his philosophical teachings and contributions to the spread of Buddhism.
As time progressed, the name Woo gained prominence across various domains. One notable figure was Woo Tao-tzu, a Chinese military strategist and philosopher who lived during the 14th century. His writings on warfare and leadership, such as the "Wu Ching Tsung Yao" (The Essentials of the Art of War), have had a lasting impact on military strategy.
In the realm of arts and culture, the name Woo is associated with the renowned Chinese painter Woo Tao-tzu, who lived during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 CE). His landscape paintings, which incorporated elements of Taoism and Buddhism, are celebrated for their profound sense of harmony and spirituality.
Another influential figure bearing the name Woo was Woo Cheng-en, a Chinese novelist and poet from the 16th century. He is best known for his masterpiece, "The Journey to the West," a classic novel that has had a significant impact on Chinese literature and culture.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who carried the name Woo, reflecting its deep roots and cultural significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Woo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Woo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Woo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Woo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Woo 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Woo a common name?
We classify Woo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Woo most popular?
The single biggest year for Woo was 1978, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Woo is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Woo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,055 people with the name Woo, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,962 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 Woo 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 Woo?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Woo on both sides of the split. Of the 1,058 people counted with this name, 798 were male (75.4%) and 260 were female (24.6%). 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 Woo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Woo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 94.1%. The next largest groups are White (3.2%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Woo most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Woo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.1% (993 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 Woo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Woo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Woo 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 Woo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Woo 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 Woo 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 Woo as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Woo, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.