How Many People Are Named Michael Tan?
There are approximately 493 people named Michael Tan living in the United States today. That makes this name combination uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 695,242 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Michael with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Tan. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
493
1 in 695,242 Americans
Combination Rarity
Uncommon
First Name
View full profileMichael
Last Name
View full profileTan
Michael: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Michael. The peak year was 1957 with 93,041 births. The average person named Michael today is 50 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Michael
In the 2020 Census, the first name Michael was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (79.02%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (7.89%) and Hispanic (7.79%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Michael in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Michael rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Tan Surname
The surname Tan was most commonly recorded among people who identified as Asian and Pacific Islander in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Tan in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Michael" has an estimated frequency of 1.09% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Tan" appears at a rate of 13.19 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Michael are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 493 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Michael
Other people with the surname Tan
Michael Tan: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Michael Tan?
We estimate approximately 493 people named Michael Tan are alive in the United States today. The first name Michael is shared by 3,738,917 Americans, and the surname Tan is shared by 45,218.
How rare is the name Michael Tan?
This name combination is classified as Uncommon, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 695,242 Americans. The first name Michael is very common and the surname Tan is uncommon.
Is Michael a male or female name?
Michael is predominantly male, with 99.5% of bearers being male and 0.5% female. It peaked in popularity in 1957 and the average bearer today is 50 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Michael?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Michael was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (79.02%). The next largest recorded groups were Black (7.89%) and Hispanic (7.79%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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