Eden
A Hebrew name meaning "place of pleasure" or "delightful place".
Name Census estimates that about 58,511 living Americans carry the first name Eden. It sits at #72 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Eden today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eden births was 2024 (3,774 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Arlene (58,314).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eden. 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 Eden with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Eden is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
59K
~ 1 in 5,858 Americans
Peak year
2024
3,774 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#72
Tracked since 1917
Census
Eden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 42,786 people with the first name Eden, which placed it at #1,006 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
#1,006
National first-name rank
People counted
43K
42,786 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
14.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eden is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.3%) and Black (12.6%). 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 Eden 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 Eden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.6% · 24,648
- Hispanic or Latino16.3% · 6,993
- Black or African American12.6% · 5,373
- Two or more races6.8% · 2,891
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 2,631
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 250
Gender
Gender distribution for Eden
Eden leans heavily female at 82.5% of total registrations, but 10,408 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Eden as a male name
- Ranked #466 in 2024
- 659 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (786 births)
Eden as a female name
- Ranked #72 in 2024
- 3,115 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (3,115 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eden leans strongly female. 36,222 people counted with this name were female (84.7%), compared with 6,563 male bearers (15.3%).
Popularity
Eden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eden from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 24,336 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Eden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eden 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 Eden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Edens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Eden, while Wyoming, Vermont, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,089 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eden
The name Eden is derived from the Hebrew word "עֵדֶן" ('Ēḏen), which means "delight" or "pleasure." It is believed to have originated in the ancient Near East, specifically in the region of Mesopotamia, around the 3rd millennium BCE.
The name gained significant importance in the Judeo-Christian tradition, as it is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the name of the biblical Garden of Eden, the paradise where God placed Adam and Eve. This association with the Garden of Eden has imbued the name with a sense of innocence, purity, and natural beauty.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Eden can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as the dwelling place of Adam and Eve before their expulsion from the Garden. The name also appears in other ancient texts, such as the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, where it is referred to as a sacred place.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Eden. One of the earliest recorded was Eden Bathurst (1684-1759), an English politician and peer who served as First Lord of the Admiralty. Another was Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960), an English novelist and playwright known for his works set in the West Country.
In the realm of science, Eden Ricart (1896-1972) was a French physicist and engineer who made significant contributions to the development of radar technology during World War II. Eden Shale (1922-2020) was an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous Broadway musicals and television shows.
Another notable figure was Eden Ahbez (1908-1995), an American musician and songwriter best known for composing the popular song "Nature Boy." He was known for his eccentric lifestyle and advocacy of naturism and environmental causes.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have borne the name Eden, reflecting its enduring appeal and the diverse backgrounds and accomplishments of those who have carried it.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Eden
People
Eden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 58,511 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eden 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 5,858 US residents.
Is Eden a common name?
We classify Eden as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 59,437 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eden most popular?
The single biggest year for Eden was 2024, when 3,774 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eden is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 42,786 people with the name Eden, or 14.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,006 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 Eden 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 Eden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eden leans strongly female. 36,222 people counted with this name were female (84.7%), compared with 6,563 male bearers (15.3%). 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 Eden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eden is White at 57.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.3%) and Black (12.6%). 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 Eden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.6% (24,648 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 Eden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eden a female name?
Yes, 82.5% of people registered as Eden in the SSA data are female. 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 Eden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eden 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 Eden 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 common is the name Eden?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.