Bjorn
A Scandinavian masculine name meaning "bear".
Name Census estimates that about 4,825 living Americans carry the first name Bjorn. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bjorn today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bjorn births was 2024 (330 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bjorn. 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 Bjorn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.8K
~ 1 in 71,037 Americans
Peak year
2024
330 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#767
Tracked since 1925
Census
Bjorn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,775 people with the first name Bjorn, which placed it at #4,790 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
#4,790
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,775 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bjorn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bjorn is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.1%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Bjorn 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 Bjorn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.6% · 3,119
- Black or African American5.1% · 192
- Two or more races5.1% · 192
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 180
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 75
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 17
Popularity
Bjorn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bjorn from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,592 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bjorn 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 Bjorn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bjorns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 35 states and territories. Minnesota, California, Washington recorded the most babies named Bjorn, while Nevada, New Jersey, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 80 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bjorn
The name Bjorn is of Old Norse origin, derived from the word "björn" which means "bear" in that language. It was a popular name among the Vikings and other Norse peoples who inhabited Scandinavia and parts of Northern Europe during the Middle Ages.
Bjorn was a common name among the Viking warriors and explorers, and it is believed to have been used as a symbolic name to represent strength, courage, and ferocity, traits associated with the bear. The name can be traced back to ancient Norse mythology, where the bear was revered as a powerful and sacred animal.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bjorn appears in the Icelandic Sagas, which are medieval literary works that recount the lives and adventures of Norse heroes and kings. The Saga of Bjorn, also known as Bjarnarsaga Hitdælakappa, is a particularly notable example, telling the story of a Norwegian warrior named Bjorn who lived in the 9th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bjorn. One of the most famous was Bjorn Ironside (Old Norse: Björn Járnsíða), a Swedish Viking leader who lived in the 9th century and was renowned for his military exploits and leadership during the Viking Age.
Another prominent figure was Bjorn Haraldsson (Old Norse: Björn Haraldsson), also known as Saint Bjorn, a Norwegian king who ruled from 1035 to 1049. He was known for his efforts to promote Christianity in Norway and for his involvement in the unification of the country.
In the 13th century, Bjorn Kollbeinsson (Old Norse: Björn Kolbeinssonr) was a celebrated Icelandic skald (poet) and chieftain who composed numerous poems and sagas, contributing significantly to the preservation of Old Norse literature.
More recently, Bjorn Borg (born 1956) is a Swedish former professional tennis player who won 11 Grand Slam singles titles and was one of the most dominant players of his era, known for his stoic demeanor and exceptional skill on the court.
Lastly, Bjorn Ulvaeus (born 1945) is a Swedish songwriter and musician, best known as a member of the iconic pop group ABBA, whose hits such as "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo" have become cultural touchstones.
People
Bjorn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bjorn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bjorn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bjorn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,825 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bjorn 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 71,037 US residents.
Is Bjorn a common name?
We classify Bjorn as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,951 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bjorn most popular?
The single biggest year for Bjorn was 2024, when 330 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bjorn is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bjorn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,775 people with the name Bjorn, or 1.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,790 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 Bjorn 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 Bjorn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bjorn appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,776 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Bjorn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bjorn is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Black (5.1%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Bjorn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bjorn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.6% (3,119 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 Bjorn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bjorn a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bjorn 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 Bjorn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bjorn 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 Bjorn 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 Bjorn?
Want to know how many people share the name Bjorn? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.