Rhen
A unisex name of unknown origin potentially meaning "little ruler" or "small king".
Name Census estimates that about 487 living Americans carry the first name Rhen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Rhen today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rhen births was 2021 (55 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rhen. 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 Rhen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
487
~ 1 in 703,808 Americans
Peak year
2021
55 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,188
Tracked since 1985
Census
Rhen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 354 people with the first name Rhen, which placed it at #26,327 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
#26,327
National first-name rank
People counted
354
354 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rhen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhen is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Rhen 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 Rhen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.5% · 292
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 21
- Two or more races5.4% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 15
- Black or African American2.0% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Rhen
Rhen is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 492 total registrations, 320 (65.0%) were male and 172 (35.0%) were female.
Rhen as a male name
- Ranked #5,188 in 2024
- 19 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (33 births)
Rhen as a female name
- Ranked #10,083 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (24 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rhen on both sides of the split. Of the 363 people counted with this name, 229 were male (63.1%) and 134 were female (36.9%).
Popularity
Rhen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rhen from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 225 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
Rhen 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 Rhen 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 Rhen
The given name Rhen is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, spoken by the ancient Norse peoples who inhabited Scandinavia and parts of modern-day Germany, France, and Britain. The name is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word "reinn," which means "pure" or "clean." It is also related to the Old Norse word "rein," meaning "reindeer."
The earliest known references to the name Rhen can be traced back to the Viking Age, which lasted from the late 8th century to the late 11th century. During this period, the Vikings, known for their seafaring prowess and explorations, spread their influence across vast regions of Europe, and their culture and language had a significant impact on various regions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Rhen was Rhen the Wanderer, a legendary Norse explorer who is said to have sailed to the shores of what is now known as North America, predating the voyages of Christopher Columbus by several centuries. While the historical accuracy of these accounts is debated, they highlight the name's deep roots in Norse mythology and folklore.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Rhen Thorvaldsson was a prominent leader and chieftain in Iceland. He is mentioned in the Icelandic sagas, which are a collection of historical narratives that provide insight into the lives and customs of the Norse people during that era.
During the Middle Ages, the name Rhen also found its way into various literary works and manuscripts, including the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems that preserve the mythological stories and legends of the Norse gods and heroes.
In the 16th century, a Swedish nobleman named Rhen Oxenstierna played a significant role in the Swedish Reformation and served as a trusted advisor to King Gustav I of Sweden.
Another notable individual with the name Rhen was Rhen Andersen, a Norwegian explorer and whaler who embarked on several expeditions to the Arctic regions in the late 19th century. His contributions to the study of Arctic wildlife and geography were significant.
While the name Rhen has its origins in the Old Norse language, it has been adopted and adapted in various cultures and regions over time, with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, the name's connection to the concepts of purity, cleanliness, and natural elements like reindeer remains a consistent theme throughout its history.
People
Rhen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rhen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rhen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rhen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 487 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rhen 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 703,808 US residents.
Is Rhen a common name?
We classify Rhen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 492 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rhen most popular?
The single biggest year for Rhen was 2021, when 55 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rhen is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rhen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 354 people with the name Rhen, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,327 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 Rhen 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 Rhen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Rhen on both sides of the split. Of the 363 people counted with this name, 229 were male (63.1%) and 134 were female (36.9%). 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 Rhen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rhen is White at 82.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.9%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Rhen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rhen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.5% (292 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 Rhen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rhen a male name?
Yes, 65.0% of people registered as Rhen 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 Rhen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rhen 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 Rhen 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 are called Rhen?
You can see how many people have the name Rhen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.