Athen
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "eternal" or "immortal".
Name Census estimates that about 664 living Americans carry the first name Athen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Athen today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Athen births was 2012 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Athen. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Athen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
664
~ 1 in 516,196 Americans
Peak year
2012
48 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,430
Tracked since 1991
Census
Athen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 651 people with the first name Athen, which placed it at #17,102 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
#17,102
National first-name rank
People counted
651
651 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Athen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Athen is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.7%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Athen 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 Athen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.0% · 319
- Hispanic or Latino28.7% · 187
- Black or African American7.8% · 51
- Two or more races6.9% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 8
Popularity
Athen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Athen from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 300 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Athen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Athen 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 Athen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Athens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Athen
The name Athen is believed to have its origins in ancient Greece, derived from the Greek word 'Athena', the name of the goddess of wisdom, courage, and warfare. It is a name that has been associated with strength, intelligence, and resilience throughout history.
In ancient Greek mythology, Athena was one of the most revered deities, known for her strategic prowess and her role as the patron goddess of the city of Athens. The city itself was named after her, as it was believed to be under her divine protection. The name Athen is a variation of this powerful goddess's name, carrying the same connotations of wisdom and strength.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Athen can be found in the works of ancient Greek historians and philosophers, such as Herodotus and Plato, who often referenced the goddess and her influence on Greek culture and society.
Over the centuries, the name Athen has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Athenaeus, a Greek grammarian and scholar who lived in the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries AD. His work, 'Deipnosophistai' (The Learned Banqueters), was a significant literary work that provided valuable insights into ancient Greek culture and customs.
Another historical figure with the name Athen was Athenagoras of Athens, a Christian philosopher and apologist who lived in the 2nd century AD. He is renowned for his work 'A Plea for the Christians', which defended the Christian faith against pagan accusations and promoted religious tolerance.
In the medieval period, the name Athen was carried by Athenais of Constantinople, a Byzantine empress who lived in the 5th century AD. She was known for her intelligence, beauty, and her influence on the court of her husband, Emperor Theodosius II.
During the Renaissance, the name Athen gained popularity once again, particularly among scholars and intellectuals who were inspired by the revival of classical Greek and Roman culture. One notable figure from this era was Athenaeus Philologus, a Greek scholar and editor who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
Another significant figure with the name Athen was Athenais Michalitsianos, a Greek poet and philosopher who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was a prominent figure in the Greek literary scene and was known for her work promoting women's rights and education.
The name Athen has endured through the ages, carrying with it the symbolic weight of its ancient Greek origins and the connotations of wisdom, courage, and resilience associated with the goddess Athena. Its historical significance and cultural resonance have ensured its continued use, serving as a testament to the enduring influence of Greek mythology and culture.
People
Athen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Athen 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
Athen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Athen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 664 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Athen 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 516,196 US residents.
Is Athen a common name?
We classify Athen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 671 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Athen most popular?
The single biggest year for Athen was 2012, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Athen is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Athen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 651 people with the name Athen, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,102 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 Athen 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 Athen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Athen leans strongly male. 578 people counted with this name were male (88.7%), compared with 74 female bearers (11.3%). 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 Athen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Athen is White at 49.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.7%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Athen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Athen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.0% (319 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 Athen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Athen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Athen 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 Athen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Athen 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 Athen 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 share the name Athen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.