Minh
Masculine · “bright”
Minh is given to both — 2,116 boys and 293 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Minh is bright. The Vietnamese word comes from a Chinese character that shows the sun and the moon side by side, which is about as direct as a writing system gets about what it means.
How old is the name Minh?
Minh first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Minh alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 2,100 people named Minh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Minh most popular?
Minh peaked in 1982, reaching #1013 nationally. Today it ranks #2884, 1,871 places below that high. See the whole 1982 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Minh
Vietnamese naming draws on a shared Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary, and minh is one of the most used elements in it, appearing as a given name on its own and as half of many compounds for both sons and daughters. The name reached United States records in numbers after 1975, with Vietnamese resettlement, and its American record follows that closely. The spelling is exact in Vietnamese; what English cannot record is the tone, which Vietnamese marks and which carries part of the meaning.
Meaning
bright, clear, intelligent
Vietnamese minh is from the Chinese character read ming, written with the elements for sun and moon together, and it means bright, clear or enlightened — of light and of understanding alike. The reading is documented. The same character named a Chinese dynasty. Vietnamese uses it in a great many compound names: Minh Anh, Quang Minh, Nhat Minh.
Pronouncing Minh
MING
One syllable. The nh at the end is a single sound closer to the ng of sing than to an n, and Vietnamese carries a tone on it that English cannot record. Americans usually say MIN, which loses the ending.
Nicknames for Minh
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 boys named
- 198280 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1013reached in 1982
- Change vs 2024
- +10.3%43 in 2025, from 39
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.
Minh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 明 in Chinese — related form
- Minh in Vietnamese — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Washington.
Minhs among us
people named Minh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 39,723 born in 2025 was named Minh
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 Cy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Minh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Cy climbed just as high around 1902, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Cy's path sketches the road Minh is walking now.
Minh 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
Where Minh is headed
Minh looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 19% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Minh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Minh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A clear documented meaning, and a beautiful one to explain — sun and moon together.
- Four letters, one syllable, and easy for a small child to write.
- Used for both sons and daughters in Vietnamese, so it carries no strong expectation.
- The final nh is not an English sound, so the name is regularly said as MIN.
- Vietnamese tone cannot be written in American records, and part of the word goes with it.
- It is very short, and in English-speaking settings it is often assumed to be a shortening.
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What they receive
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Minh
Masculine · #2884 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Minhs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Minh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Minh in 2025?
- Minh ranks #2884 among US boy names in 2025, with 43 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Minh?
- About 1 in every 39,723 US boys born in 2025 was named Minh — 43 in all.
- Will my child share the name Minh with classmates?
- Minh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Minh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kamal#2884 · Blu#2884 · Rafi#2884 · Shaquille#2884 · Arnav#2884 · Jayven#2884 · Tytus#2884 · Hiro#2884
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Minh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Minh and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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