1990 U.S. Census Statistics
The U.S. Census released a report that ranked surnames according to frequency based on the 1990 census. The report did not break up the numbers according to ethnicity, so there's no way to tell if all these people of these surnames are Chinese or not.
The report gave the rank and percent, I calculated the calculated percentage and approximate number of people.
By the way, the most popular surname in the U.S. is Smith; 1.006% percent of the population, a little over 2.5 million people are named Smith.
| surname | rank | percent of total population | calculated percentage | approximate number of people |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kwan | 5,337 | .002% | .0022% | 5,473 |
| Quan | 5,652 | .002% | .0020% | 4,976 |
| Guan | 14,055 | .001% | .0008% | 1,914 |
| Quon | 16,039 | .001% | .0006% | 1,555 |
| Kuan | 26,396 | .000% | .0004% | 921 |
| total | .006% | .006% | 14,839 |
Visit the U.S. census website to see the full census surname report.
Some other fellow compiled a list of all the Chinese sounding surnames found in that census surname report.
Kwans in the U.S. maps
These maps show where "Kwans" live in the U.S. and are based on the 1990 U.S. census. I got permission to use these maps from harmick.com. Thanks Ed Hamrick.
Kwan
Quan
Guan
Quon
Kuan
