Holdyn
A masculine name of English origin, possibly related to "hold" and "den".
Name Census estimates that about 720 living Americans carry the first name Holdyn. It is a predominantly male name (92.7% of registrations). The average person named Holdyn today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Holdyn births was 2017 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Holdyn. 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
720
~ 1 in 476,048 Americans
Peak year
2017
50 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,110
Tracked since 1993
Census
Holdyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 525 people with the first name Holdyn, which placed it at #19,901 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
#19,901
National first-name rank
People counted
525
525 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Holdyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Holdyn is White at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Holdyn 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 Holdyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.8% · 461
- Two or more races4.4% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 11
- Black or African American1.7% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Holdyn
Holdyn leans heavily male at 92.7% of total registrations, but 53 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Holdyn as a male name
- Ranked #5,110 in 2024
- 19 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (43 births)
Holdyn as a female name
- Ranked #14,218 in 2022
- 6 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2016 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Holdyn leans strongly male. 453 people counted with this name were male (86.5%), compared with 71 female bearers (13.5%).
Popularity
Holdyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Holdyn 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 370 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Holdyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Holdyn 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 Holdyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Holdyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Holdyn
The given name Holdyn is rooted in the Old English language, originating sometime around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "holde," meaning loyal or faithful, and "wyn," meaning friend or protector. The name was likely first used in the Anglo-Saxon regions of what is now England and parts of Scotland.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Holdyn can be found in the Domesday Book, a famous medieval manuscript commissioned in 1086 by William the Conqueror. The book contains a reference to a landowner named Holdyn of Wessex, suggesting the name's use during the late 11th century.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Holdyn the Scribe gained recognition for his work as a calligrapher and illuminator of religious texts in the monasteries of Northumbria. His intricate and ornate calligraphy can still be admired in some of the surviving manuscripts from that era.
During the 13th century, a French monk named Holdyn du Châtelet lived in the Abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris. He is known for his philosophical writings and contributions to the study of scholastic theology.
In the 15th century, a Welsh soldier named Holdyn ap Rhys fought valiantly in the Wars of the Roses, serving under the House of Lancaster. Historical records mention his bravery and loyalty on the battlefield.
Another historical figure bearing the name Holdyn was a Norwegian explorer named Holdyn Eriksson, who embarked on voyages to Iceland and Greenland in the late 10th century. He is credited with establishing one of the first Norse settlements in North America, predating Christopher Columbus by several centuries.
Throughout the centuries, the name Holdyn has been relatively rare but has persisted in various forms and spellings, such as Holden, Holden, and Holdyn. While not as common as some other names, it has maintained a presence in various cultures and regions, reflecting its rich historical roots and enduring legacy.
People
Holdyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Holdyn 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
Holdyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Holdyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 720 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Holdyn 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 476,048 US residents.
Is Holdyn a common name?
We classify Holdyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 726 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Holdyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Holdyn was 2017, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Holdyn is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Holdyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 525 people with the name Holdyn, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,901 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 Holdyn 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 Holdyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Holdyn leans strongly male. 453 people counted with this name were male (86.5%), compared with 71 female bearers (13.5%). 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 Holdyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Holdyn is White at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.4%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Holdyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Holdyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (461 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 Holdyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Holdyn a male name?
Yes, 92.7% of people registered as Holdyn 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 Holdyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Holdyn 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 Holdyn 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 Holdyn as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.