Draden
Of unknown meaning, potentially derived from a Welsh surname.
Name Census estimates that about 229 living Americans carry the first name Draden. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Draden today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Draden births was 2008 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Draden. 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
229
~ 1 in 1,496,744 Americans
Peak year
2008
32 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2020 SSA rank
#10,974
Tracked since 2001
Census
Draden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Draden, which placed it at #33,765 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
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Draden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Draden is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and Hispanic (9.8%). 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 Draden 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 Draden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.9% · 134
- Black or African American21.3% · 52
- Hispanic or Latino9.8% · 24
- Two or more races9.8% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 4
Popularity
Draden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Draden from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 132 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
Draden 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 Draden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dradens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Draden
The name Draden has its origins in ancient Celtic cultures, with roots dating back to the 5th century AD. It is believed to be derived from the Proto-Celtic word "dravon," meaning "wanderer" or "traveler." The name gained popularity among the Britons and other Celtic tribes who inhabited the British Isles and parts of continental Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Draden can be found in the historic annals of the Kingdom of Powys, a Welsh kingdom that existed from the 5th to the 11th century. In these records, a chieftain named Draden ap Cadwallon is mentioned, who ruled over a portion of the kingdom in the late 6th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Draden appeared sporadically in various historical documents and literary works. It is worth noting that the spelling and pronunciation of the name evolved over time, with variations such as "Dradyn," "Drayden," and "Draydon" being observed.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Draden ap Rhys was a Welsh poet and bard who gained recognition for his poetic works celebrating the valor of Welsh warriors. His poems were preserved in the famous manuscript known as the "Black Book of Carmarthen."
During the 13th century, a Draden de Montfort was recorded as a knight who fought alongside Simon de Montfort during the Second Barons' War in England. He was commended for his bravery in the Battle of Lewes in 1264.
In the 15th century, a Draden Glyndwr was a prominent Welsh landowner and supporter of the Welsh rebel leader Owain Glyndwr during the Welsh Revolt against English rule. He played a significant role in the uprising and is mentioned in contemporary accounts of the time.
Another notable figure bearing the name Draden was Draden Mawr, a 16th-century Welsh poet and scholar who made significant contributions to the preservation of Welsh literature and cultural heritage. His works are still studied and celebrated today.
While the name Draden has its roots in Celtic culture and history, it has also been adopted and used by various other cultures and communities over the centuries, albeit with varying spellings and pronunciations.
People
Draden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Draden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Draden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Draden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 229 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Draden 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 1,496,744 US residents.
Is Draden a common name?
We classify Draden as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 231 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Draden most popular?
The single biggest year for Draden was 2008, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Draden is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Draden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Draden, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 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 Draden 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 Draden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Draden leans strongly male. 239 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 5 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Draden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Draden is White at 54.9%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and Hispanic (9.8%). 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 Draden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Draden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.9% (134 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 Draden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Draden a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Draden 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 Draden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Draden 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 Draden 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 Americans are named Draden?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.