Holdan
An Old Norse given name meaning "curved valley" or "winding hollow".
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Holdan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Holdan today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Holdan births was 2010 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Holdan. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Holdan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
2010
9 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2018 SSA rank
#8,413
Tracked since 1993
Popularity
Holdan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Holdan from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 38 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Holdan 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 Holdan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Holdan
The name Holdan is believed to have originated from the Old English language, which was spoken in parts of Britain from the 5th to the 11th centuries. It is derived from the Old English words "hold" meaning "loyal" or "faithful" and "an" which was a diminutive suffix, creating the combined meaning of "little loyal one" or "little faithful one."
Holdan was a relatively common name among the Anglo-Saxons, particularly in the regions of Wessex and Mercia. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals that recorded the history of the Anglo-Saxons from the 9th century onwards. The name appears in an entry from the year 893, referring to a nobleman named Holdan who was part of the court of King Alfred the Great.
In the 11th century, a monk named Holdan is mentioned in the Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, a Norman historian and Benedictine monk. This Holdan was a member of the monastic community at Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England, and is noted for his devotion to the religious life.
Another notable figure named Holdan was a nobleman from Northumbria who lived in the late 10th century. He is mentioned in the Historia Regum Anglorum, a chronicle written by the medieval historian William of Malmesbury. According to the text, Holdan was a loyal supporter of King Ethelred the Unready during the Anglo-Saxon resistance against the Danish invasions.
During the Middle Ages, the name Holdan appeared in various forms, such as Holdane, Holdyn, and Holdein. One example is Holdein of Bury St. Edmunds, a monk and scribe who lived in the 12th century and is credited with producing several illuminated manuscripts that are now housed in the British Library.
In the 14th century, a prominent figure named Holdan was Sir Holdan Legh, a knight from Cheshire, England, who was born around 1320 and served as a soldier during the Hundred Years' War against France. He is recorded as participating in several significant battles, including the Battle of Crécy in 1346.
While the name Holdan was once relatively common, it gradually fell out of widespread use after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. However, it continued to be used sporadically throughout history, with a few notable individuals bearing the name in later centuries.
People
Holdan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Holdan 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
Holdan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Holdan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Holdan 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Holdan a common name?
We classify Holdan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 73 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Holdan most popular?
The single biggest year for Holdan was 2010, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Holdan is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Holdan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Holdan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Holdan 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 Holdan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Holdan 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 Holdan 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Holdan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.