Griffen
A masculine name originating from Anglo-French meaning "strong lord."
Name Census estimates that about 1,765 living Americans carry the first name Griffen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Griffen today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Griffen births was 1999 (110 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Griffen. 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
1.8K
~ 1 in 194,195 Americans
Peak year
1999
110 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,727
Tracked since 1985
Census
Griffen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,728 people with the first name Griffen, which placed it at #8,397 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
#8,397
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,728 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Griffen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Griffen is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Griffen 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 Griffen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.9% · 1,519
- Two or more races5.3% · 91
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 66
- Black or African American1.6% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 7
Popularity
Griffen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Griffen from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 764 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
Griffen 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 Griffen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Griffens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Michigan, Ohio recorded the most babies named Griffen, while Utah, Georgia, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Griffen
The name Griffen is derived from the Old English word "griff," which means "griffin" – a mythical creature with the body of a lion and the head and wings of an eagle. This name has its origins in the Anglo-Saxon culture of Britain during the early medieval period.
The griffin was a popular symbol in ancient mythology, often representing strength, courage, and vigilance. The name Griffen was likely used to imbue these qualities in the bearer. It has also been suggested that the name may have been influenced by the Welsh word "gruffudd," which means "leader" or "commander."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Griffen can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a landowner named Griffen in the county of Herefordshire.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Griffen. One of the most famous was Griffen ap Rees (c. 1165-1201), a Welsh prince and military leader who fought against the Norman invaders. Another notable figure was Griffen Jones (1683-1761), a Welsh clergyman and author who wrote extensively on the history of Wales.
In the 16th century, Sir Griffen Markham (1530-1610) was an English statesman and member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. He played a significant role in the colonization of Ireland and was appointed Lord Deputy of Ireland in 1598.
During the American Revolutionary War, Griffen Colver (1755-1838) served as a corporal in the Continental Army and participated in several major battles, including the Battle of Saratoga.
In more recent times, Griffen Rudolph (1897-1971) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Toronto St. Patricks and the Toronto Maple Leafs in the early 20th century.
People
Griffen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Griffen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Griffen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Griffen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,765 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Griffen 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 194,195 US residents.
Is Griffen a common name?
We classify Griffen as "Rare". It ranks above 93.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,790 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Griffen most popular?
The single biggest year for Griffen was 1999, when 110 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Griffen is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Griffen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,728 people with the name Griffen, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,397 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 Griffen 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 Griffen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Griffen leans strongly male. 1,698 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 29 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Griffen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Griffen is White at 87.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.3%) and Hispanic (3.8%). 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 Griffen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Griffen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.9% (1,519 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 Griffen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Griffen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Griffen 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 Griffen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Griffen 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 Griffen 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 have Griffen as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Griffen, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.