Hagen
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "hawthorn hedge or enclosure."
Name Census estimates that about 3,314 living Americans carry the first name Hagen. It is a predominantly male name (92.8% of registrations). The average person named Hagen today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hagen births was 2006 (145 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hagen. 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 Hagen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Hagen is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.3K
~ 1 in 103,426 Americans
Peak year
2006
145 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,153
Tracked since 1973
Census
Hagen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,626 people with the first name Hagen, which placed it at #6,171 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
#6,171
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,626 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hagen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hagen is White at 86.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Hagen 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 Hagen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.3% · 2,266
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 130
- Two or more races4.9% · 128
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 39
- Black or African American0.9% · 23
Gender
Gender distribution for Hagen
Hagen leans heavily male at 92.8% of total registrations, but 243 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Hagen as a male name
- Ranked #2,153 in 2024
- 68 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (135 births)
Hagen as a female name
- Ranked #9,116 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (19 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hagen leans strongly male. 2,407 people counted with this name were male (91.7%), compared with 217 female bearers (8.3%).
Popularity
Hagen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hagen from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,261 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Hagen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hagen 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 Hagen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hagens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 19 states and territories. Texas, Utah, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Hagen, while Wyoming, Ohio, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 82 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hagen
The name Hagen originates from the Germanic languages and has its roots in the Old Norse word "hagr" or the Old High German word "hagan", both meaning "hedge" or "enclosure". It was a common name among the ancient Germanic tribes, particularly the Saxons and Franks.
During the Middle Ages, the name Hagen gained prominence in various Germanic regions, including modern-day Germany, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. It was often associated with nobility and warrior culture, as many historical figures bearing this name were renowned for their military prowess and leadership.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Hagen can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a famous German epic poem from the 13th century. In this legendary work, Hagen is portrayed as a loyal and fearless warrior in the service of the Burgundian kings.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hagen. One of the most famous was Hagen von Tronje (c. 1150-1197), a German knight and a central figure in the Nibelungenlied. Another prominent Hagen was Walter von der Vogelweide (c. 1170-1230), a renowned German lyric poet and minnesingers of the Middle High German period.
In the field of science, Hagen is remembered for Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz (1646-1716), a German polymath who made significant contributions to mathematics, philosophy, and various scientific disciplines. Gottfried Hagen (1797-1884), a German hydraulic engineer, is also noteworthy for his work on fluid mechanics and the development of the Hagen-Poiseuille equation.
In the arts, Hagen von Enselenau (c. 1150-1190) was a prominent German minnesingers and poet, known for his courtly love songs and lyrical compositions. More recently, Walter Hagen (1892-1969) was an American professional golfer who won eleven major championships and is recognized as one of the greatest players in the sport's history.
While the name Hagen has its roots in ancient Germanic cultures, it has endured through the centuries and has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including warriors, poets, scientists, and athletes, leaving an indelible mark on history.
People
Hagen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hagen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hagen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hagen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,314 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hagen 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 103,426 US residents.
Is Hagen a common name?
We classify Hagen as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,354 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hagen most popular?
The single biggest year for Hagen was 2006, when 145 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hagen 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 Hagen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,626 people with the name Hagen, or 0.87 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,171 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 Hagen 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 Hagen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hagen leans strongly male. 2,407 people counted with this name were male (91.7%), compared with 217 female bearers (8.3%). 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 Hagen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hagen is White at 86.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Hagen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hagen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.3% (2,266 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 Hagen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hagen a male name?
Yes, 92.8% of people registered as Hagen 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 Hagen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hagen 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 Hagen 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 Hagen as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Hagen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.