Anh
Feminine · “bright”
Anh is given to both — 1,581 girls and 715 boys since 1880. See Anh as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Anh is Vietnamese, unisex, and three letters long, which makes it one of the shortest names in the American record. Its peak here is 1984, which places it precisely: the Vietnamese refugee arrival that began in 1975 and the American-born children of that first cohort.
How old is the name Anh?
Anh first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Anh alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 1,600 people named Anh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anh most popular?
Anh peaked in 1984, reaching #1633 nationally. Today it ranks #6116, 4,483 places below that high. See the whole 1984 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Anh
Vietnamese naming puts the family name first, a middle name second and the given name last, and the given name is the one used in address — which is why Vietnamese people are called by what an English speaker would read as their last name. Anh is used on both sexes, often as part of a two-syllable given name such as Ngoc Anh or Tuan Anh. The Vietnamese population of the United States grew from almost nothing in 1974 to over half a million within fifteen years, and the American birth record for Vietnamese names rises through the 1980s in step with it.
Meaningscholars disagree
bright, intelligent; also a hero or elder brother
Vietnamese names are written with Chinese-derived characters in their classical form, and Anh corresponds to several. The most usual is a character meaning bright, flourishing or outstanding, which also carries a sense of a hero or a distinguished person. A different character gives anh as the word for an elder brother, which is also an ordinary pronoun in Vietnamese. Which sense a family intends depends on the character, and modern Vietnamese writing does not show it.
Pronouncing Anh
AHN
One syllable. The nh is a single nasal consonant, similar to the ny of canyon, so the name ends in a sound English does not have at the end of a word. English speakers produce something close to AN or ANG, both of which are understood.
Nicknames for Anh
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1975
- Most girls named
- 198467 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1633reached in 1984
- Change vs 2024
- 0.0%19 in 2025, from 19
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Anh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anh in Vietnamese — same name
- Ngoc Anh in Vietnamese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Washington.
Anhs among us
people named Anh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 84,593 born in 2025 was named Anh
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rickey test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rickey climbed just as high around 1947, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rickey's path sketches the road Anh is walking now.
Anh sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Anh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and one syllable, quick to write and quick to say.
- It is genuinely unisex in Vietnam, which suits families who do not want a sex-marked name.
- The meaning is positive in every reading of the character.
- The final consonant does not exist in English and is always approximated.
- It is very short and will be misheard as Ann, An or Anne.
- The meaning depends on the character, which modern spelling does not show.
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What they receive
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Anh
Feminine · #6116 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anhs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Anh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anh in 2025?
- Anh ranks #6116 among US girl names in 2025, with 19 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anh?
- About 1 in every 84,593 US girls born in 2025 was named Anh — 19 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anh with classmates?
- Anh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Alvina#6116 · Mena#6116 · Harvey#6116 · Kellie#6116 · Alden#6116 · Jeanna#6116 · Sammi#6116 · Mamie#6116
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anh and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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