Efren
A masculine Spanish name derived from the Biblical Ephraim, meaning "fruitful".
Name Census estimates that about 7,415 living Americans carry the first name Efren. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Efren today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Efren births was 2007 (201 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Efren. 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 Efren with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.4K
~ 1 in 46,224 Americans
Peak year
2007
201 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,599
Tracked since 1915
Census
Efren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,648 people with the first name Efren, which placed it at #1,927 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
#1,927
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
14,648 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
86.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Efren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Efren is Hispanic at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.4%) and White (1.3%). 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 Efren 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 Efren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino86.2% · 12,630
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.4% · 1,666
- White1.3% · 195
- Black or African American0.6% · 95
- Two or more races0.3% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 21
Popularity
Efren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Efren from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,773 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
Efren 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 Efren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Efrens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Efren, while Utah, Michigan, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 360 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Efren
The name Efren is of Greek origin, derived from the word "euphron," which means "cheerful" or "joyful." It dates back to ancient times and has been used across various cultures and regions.
In the Byzantine Empire, the name Efren was relatively common and can be found in historical records from the 4th to 15th centuries. It was particularly popular among the Greek Orthodox Christian community.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Efren was Saint Ephraim the Syrian, a prominent theologian and hymnographer who lived between 306 and 373 AD. He was known for his extensive writings and contributions to the development of Christian theology.
During the Middle Ages, the name Efren gained popularity in parts of Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy. In Spain, it was often spelled as "Efrén" or "Efrén."
In the 16th century, Efren Álvarez de Córdoba was a renowned Spanish poet and playwright. He was born in Córdoba in 1513 and is known for his works "El Viaje al Parnaso" (The Journey to Parnassus) and "La Conquista de México" (The Conquest of Mexico).
In the 17th century, Efren de la Cruz was a notable Mexican Franciscan friar and missionary. He was born in Querétaro in 1637 and played a significant role in evangelizing the indigenous populations of New Spain (present-day Mexico).
In the 19th century, Efren Quintana was a prominent Venezuelan poet and political activist. He was born in Caracas in 1819 and was known for his patriotic and revolutionary poems, as well as his involvement in the struggle for independence.
Another notable figure was Efren Rebolledo, a Mexican military leader and politician who lived from 1837 to 1912. He played a crucial role in the Mexican Revolution and served as the Governor of Coahuila from 1901 to 1905.
While the name Efren has maintained its presence throughout history, it has also evolved and been adapted to different cultures and languages, resulting in various spellings and pronunciations.
People
Efren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Efren 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
Efren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Efren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,415 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Efren 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 46,224 US residents.
Is Efren a common name?
We classify Efren as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,132 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Efren most popular?
The single biggest year for Efren was 2007, when 201 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Efren is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Efren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,648 people with the name Efren, or 4.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,927 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 Efren 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 Efren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Efren appears almost entirely male. Of the 14,639 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Efren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Efren is Hispanic at 86.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.4%) and White (1.3%). 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 Efren most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Efren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.2% (12,630 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 Efren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Efren a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Efren 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 Efren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Efren 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 Efren 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 Efren?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.