Yuchen
A masculine Chinese name meaning "universe exhibiting grace".
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the first name Yuchen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Yuchen today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Yuchen births was 2017 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Yuchen. 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 Yuchen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
122
~ 1 in 2,809,462 Americans
Peak year
2017
17 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,209
Tracked since 2009
Census
Yuchen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,846 people with the first name Yuchen, which placed it at #7,987 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
#7,987
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,846 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
91.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Yuchen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yuchen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.2%) 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 Yuchen 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 Yuchen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander91.1% · 1,682
- White6.2% · 115
- Black or African American1.2% · 23
- Two or more races0.8% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Yuchen
Yuchen leans heavily male at 85.4% of total registrations, but 18 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Yuchen as a male name
- Ranked #7,209 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (12 births)
Yuchen as a female name
- Ranked #15,835 in 2017
- 6 female births in 2017
- Peak: 2014 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yuchen on both sides of the split. Of the 1,845 people counted with this name, 957 were male (51.9%) and 888 were female (48.1%).
Popularity
Yuchen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Yuchen from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 89 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Yuchen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Yuchen 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 Yuchen 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 Yuchen
The name Yuchen is a Chinese given name with origins dating back to ancient times. It is a combination of two characters: "Yu" meaning "jade" and "Chen" meaning "dust" or "powder." The name is believed to have emerged during the Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BC) when jade was highly revered for its beauty and durability.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Yuchen can be found in the Classic of Poetry, an anthology of ancient Chinese poems and songs from the 11th to 7th centuries BC. In this text, the name is mentioned in reference to a skilled artisan who crafted exquisite jade objects.
Throughout Chinese history, the name Yuchen has been associated with individuals known for their artistic talents, particularly in the realm of jade carving and sculpting. One notable figure was Yuchen Zhang, a renowned jade carver from the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), whose intricate works were highly sought after by the imperial court.
In the realm of literature, Yuchen Li (1081–1127) was a celebrated poet and scholar during the Song Dynasty. His poetic works, which often drew inspiration from nature, are still widely studied and admired today.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Yuchen Wang was a prominent calligrapher and painter. His calligraphic works, renowned for their elegance and fluidity, were highly prized by collectors and connoisseurs of the time.
Fast forward to the 20th century, Yuchen Huang (1920–2005) was a respected architect who played a significant role in the modernization of Chinese architecture. His designs seamlessly blended traditional Chinese aesthetics with contemporary architectural principles.
Throughout its long history, the name Yuchen has carried a sense of refinement, artistry, and appreciation for the beauty found in nature and craftsmanship. Its enduring presence in Chinese culture reflects the enduring reverence for jade and the esteemed status of skilled artisans.
People
Yuchen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Yuchen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Y
Other first names starting with Y with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Yuchen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Yuchen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 122 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Yuchen 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 2,809,462 US residents.
Is Yuchen a common name?
We classify Yuchen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Yuchen most popular?
The single biggest year for Yuchen was 2017, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Yuchen is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Yuchen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,846 people with the name Yuchen, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,987 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 Yuchen 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 Yuchen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Yuchen on both sides of the split. Of the 1,845 people counted with this name, 957 were male (51.9%) and 888 were female (48.1%). 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 Yuchen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Yuchen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 91.1%. The next largest groups are White (6.2%) 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 Yuchen most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Yuchen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (1,682 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 Yuchen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Yuchen a male name?
Yes, 85.4% of people registered as Yuchen 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 Yuchen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Yuchen 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 Yuchen 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 Yuchen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.