Espen
A Scandinavian masculine name of Old Norse origin meaning "god of the aspen tree".
Name Census estimates that about 812 living Americans carry the first name Espen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Espen today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Espen births was 2016 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Espen. 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 Espen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
812
~ 1 in 422,111 Americans
Peak year
2016
48 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,710
Tracked since 1995
Census
Espen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 690 people with the first name Espen, which placed it at #16,377 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
#16,377
National first-name rank
People counted
690
690 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Espen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Espen is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Two or More Races (9.6%). 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 Espen 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 Espen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.7% · 529
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 67
- Two or more races9.6% · 66
- Black or African American2.2% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Espen
Espen leans heavily male at 83.8% of total registrations, but 133 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Espen as a male name
- Ranked #3,710 in 2024
- 30 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (37 births)
Espen as a female name
- Ranked #12,531 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Espen leans strongly male. 612 people counted with this name were male (87.7%), compared with 86 female bearers (12.3%).
Popularity
Espen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Espen 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 371 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Espen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Espen 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 Espen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Espens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Espen
The name Espen is a Norwegian masculine given name. It originated as a form of the Old Norse name Ásbjarn, which is composed of the elements áss meaning "god" and bjǫrn meaning "bear". The name Espen is believed to have emerged as a shortened form of Ásbjarn during the medieval period in Scandinavia.
The earliest recorded use of the name Espen dates back to the 13th century in Norway. It appears in historical records and documents from this time, particularly in areas where Old Norse was spoken. The name was likely influenced by the popularity of the Norse mythology and the reverence for bears in ancient Norse culture.
In the 14th century, Espen Thorsteinsson was a Norwegian chieftain and landowner who played a role in the Norwegian struggle for independence from Denmark. He is mentioned in the Icelandic sagas and is one of the earliest notable historical figures to bear the name Espen.
During the 16th century, Espen Anderssen (1550-1628) was a Norwegian farmer and landowner from Hallingdal, Norway. He is known for his involvement in the Peasant Revolt of 1612-1613, where he led a group of farmers in protest against the Danish-Norwegian king's taxation policies.
In the 17th century, Espen Christensen Vibe (1610-1675) was a Norwegian merchant and ship owner from Bergen. He played a significant role in the development of trade and commerce in Norway during this period.
Another notable figure named Espen was Espen Hille (1733-1804), a Norwegian farmer and politician from Hallingdal. He served as a representative in the Norwegian Storting (parliament) and was known for his advocacy for farmers' rights and land reforms.
In the 19th century, Espen Michelsen (1870-1953) was a Norwegian explorer and Arctic researcher. He participated in several expeditions to the Arctic regions and made important contributions to the study of glaciers and ice formations.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Espen. The name has its roots in ancient Norse culture and has been used in Norway and other Scandinavian countries for centuries.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Espen
People
Espen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Espen 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
Espen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Espen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 812 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Espen 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 422,111 US residents.
Is Espen a common name?
We classify Espen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 819 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Espen most popular?
The single biggest year for Espen was 2016, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Espen is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Espen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 690 people with the name Espen, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,377 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 Espen 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 Espen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Espen leans strongly male. 612 people counted with this name were male (87.7%), compared with 86 female bearers (12.3%). 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 Espen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Espen is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Two or More Races (9.6%). 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 Espen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Espen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.7% (529 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 Espen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Espen a male name?
Yes, 83.8% of people registered as Espen 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 Espen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Espen 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 Espen 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 Espen?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Espen at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.