Idan
Of Hebrew origin, meaning "time" or "era".
Name Census estimates that about 540 living Americans carry the first name Idan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Idan today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Idan births was 2009 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Idan. 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 Idan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
540
~ 1 in 634,730 Americans
Peak year
2009
36 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,107
Tracked since 1981
Census
Idan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 757 people with the first name Idan, which placed it at #15,253 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
#15,253
National first-name rank
People counted
757
757 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Idan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Idan is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.9%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Idan 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 Idan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.2% · 554
- Hispanic or Latino18.9% · 143
- Black or African American3.2% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 18
- Two or more races2.1% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Idan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Idan from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 256 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Idan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Idan 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 Idan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Idans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Idan, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Idan
The name Idan has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is believed to be derived from the Hebrew word "idon," which means "time" or "period." This suggests that the name Idan may have been associated with concepts of time or temporal cycles in its early usage.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Idan can be found in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. In the Book of Ezra, a person named Idan is mentioned as one of the leaders who returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile in the 5th century BCE.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Idan. In the 11th century, Idan ben Shmuel was a prominent Jewish poet and philosopher from Spain. His works explored themes of love, mysticism, and the human condition.
During the 13th century, Idan al-Baghdadi was an influential Islamic scholar and theologian from Baghdad. He made significant contributions to the fields of jurisprudence and Islamic philosophy.
In more recent times, Idan Raichel, born in 1977, is an Israeli musician and songwriter known for fusing various musical styles and collaborating with artists from diverse cultural backgrounds. His music has gained international recognition and acclaim.
Another notable figure is Idan Ofer, born in 1955, an Israeli businessman and philanthropist. He is the co-owner of the Ofer Group, a major international shipping and real estate company.
Idan Tal, born in 1975, is an Israeli basketball player who had a successful career in both the Israeli and European leagues. He represented the Israeli national team in several international competitions.
While these are just a few examples, the name Idan has been carried by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, spanning different religions, cultures, and fields of expertise.
People
Idan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Idan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Idan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Idan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 540 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Idan 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 634,730 US residents.
Is Idan a common name?
We classify Idan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 545 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Idan most popular?
The single biggest year for Idan was 2009, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Idan 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 Idan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 757 people with the name Idan, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,253 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 Idan 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 Idan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Idan leans strongly male. 719 people counted with this name were male (94.9%), compared with 39 female bearers (5.1%). 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 Idan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Idan is White at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.9%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Idan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Idan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (554 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 Idan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Idan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Idan 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 Idan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Idan 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 Idan 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 the name Idan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.