Anden
Anden is an uncommon Scandinavian name of uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 703 living Americans carry the first name Anden. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Anden today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anden births was 2004 (68 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anden. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
703
~ 1 in 487,560 Americans
Peak year
2004
68 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,424
Tracked since 1982
Census
Anden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 728 people with the first name Anden, which placed it at #15,712 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#15,712
National first-name rank
People counted
728
728 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anden is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Anden described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Anden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.7% · 544
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 76
- Two or more races6.2% · 45
- Black or African American5.6% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Anden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anden from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 339 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anden by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Anden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Andens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Ohio, Texas recorded the most babies named Anden, while Missouri, Michigan, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anden
The name Anden is of Old Norse origin, stemming from the word "andr" which means "breath" or "spirit." This name likely emerged during the Viking Age, between the 8th and 11th centuries, when the Norse culture and language were prominent across Scandinavia and parts of Northern Europe.
Anden is believed to have been used as a given name during this period, although its precise origins and earliest documented usage remain uncertain. It is possible that the name was initially used as a descriptor or nickname for someone perceived as having a strong or spirited nature.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Anden was a Norwegian chieftain who lived in the 9th century. Historical records from that time mention an Anden Thorvaldsson, a powerful leader in the region of Trøndelag, Norway.
In the 12th century, an Icelandic scholar and historian named Anden Jónsson is recorded as having written several influential works on Norse mythology and literature. His writings provide valuable insights into the cultural and religious beliefs of the Viking Age.
During the Middle Ages, the name Anden appeared sporadically in various parts of Scandinavia and Northern Europe. Notable individuals included Anden Eriksson, a Swedish nobleman who played a prominent role in the Swedish Crusades against Finland in the 13th century.
In the 16th century, an Anden Olafsson was a respected Icelandic clergyman and scholar who contributed to the translation of religious texts into the Icelandic language.
Another noteworthy figure was Anden Pedersson, a Danish military officer who fought in the Kalmar War between Denmark and Sweden in the early 17th century.
While the name Anden has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its strong ties to the Norse heritage and the concept of "breath" or "spirit" have endured, reflecting the cultural richness and traditions of the ancient Nordic peoples.
People
Anden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Anden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 703 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anden going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 487,560 US residents.
Is Anden a common name?
We classify Anden as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 710 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anden most popular?
The single biggest year for Anden was 2004, when 68 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anden is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 728 people with the name Anden, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,712 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Anden in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Anden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anden leans strongly male. 694 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 34 female bearers (4.7%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Anden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anden is White at 74.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Anden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Anden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.7% (544 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Anden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anden a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anden in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Anden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anden in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Anden can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Anden?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.