Name Awesome

Min

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Min has been given to 638 babies in the U.S. since 1971. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1994, with 20 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 62% boys, 38% girls all-time.

Babies named Min, 2018

1 in 502,000

Min over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Min over time

In 2023, Min went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19532023

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Min: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Min means

Min has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Min

One of the source’s documented entries for Min records a meaning of quick, clever, sharp.

One of the source’s documented entries for Min records a meaning of king, ruler.

Origin, language, and formation

Min is used in English.

Min comes through Mandarin 敏.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 395 boys were recorded with the name Min between 1971 and 2018. Its highest annual count was 20 in 1994; its best national rank was #2,785 in 1982.

In the United States, 243 girls were recorded with the name Min between 1953 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 17 in 1993; its best national rank was #5,597 in 1993.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Min?

Min had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2018, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2018
1 in 502,000
7 of 3,516,853 births
Among boys only
1 in 259,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2018
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
348,244 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Min sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2018 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 348,244 children born in 2018 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Min. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mins were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Min was born before 1995 — so the typical Min is around 30 today.

Median birth year
1995
About 30 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
34.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
55.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
395
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 34.7% of all recorded uses (137).

Is Min rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1994 (20)
Years since peak
31
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
31.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,785
1982

Where Min is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Min was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 878,820 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Maryland1 in —
  3. 3New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Min has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Min is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Min was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 2,376,598 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Min has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Min around the world

Where Min ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1999–2015
    #4,747
    in 2015
  • Canada
    2004–2014
    #2,672
    in 2014
  • South Australia
    2005–2005
    #643
    in 2005

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Min by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,785
1982
Peak year
1994
20 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
2018
All-time count
395
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#5,597
1993
Peak year
1993
17 that year
First recorded
1953
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
243
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Min

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

MinaMingoMingMinhEminMominYaminOsminMinerLaminRaminMinatoDezminMuminJayminMinasMinoruAminMinnieMinorJiminDesminAlaminDamin

Sibling names for Min

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Min

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