Toren
An English name derived from the Middle English word "tour", meaning a tower or spire.
Name Census estimates that about 923 living Americans carry the first name Toren. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Toren today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Toren births was 2009 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Toren. 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 Toren with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
923
~ 1 in 371,348 Americans
Peak year
2009
39 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,849
Tracked since 1959
Census
Toren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 875 people with the first name Toren, which placed it at #13,702 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
#13,702
National first-name rank
People counted
875
875 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Toren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toren is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Two or More Races (10.1%). 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 Toren 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 Toren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.1% · 535
- Black or African American22.6% · 198
- Two or more races10.1% · 88
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Toren
Toren leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 11 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Toren as a male name
- Ranked #4,849 in 2024
- 21 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (39 births)
Toren as a female name
- Ranked #17,930 in 2018
- 5 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1995 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toren leans strongly male. 772 people counted with this name were male (87.5%), compared with 110 female bearers (12.5%).
Popularity
Toren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Toren from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 297 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Toren remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Toren 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 Toren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Torens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Washington, Colorado recorded the most babies named Toren, while Colorado, Washington, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Toren
The name Toren is of Dutch origin, derived from the Old Dutch word "toren," meaning "tower" or "turret." It first emerged in the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, in the Low Countries region, which included parts of modern-day Belgium, Netherlands, and northern France.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Toren can be found in the 13th-century Dutch literature, where it was used as a surname for individuals who lived near or worked in towers or fortified structures. Over time, it evolved into a given name, particularly popular among the Dutch-speaking communities.
In the 15th century, a notable figure named Toren van Essen was a Dutch nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Hook and Cod Wars, a series of conflicts between the cities of Holland and the Duchy of Burgundy.
Another historical figure bearing the name Toren was Toren Teunisz, a 17th-century Dutch painter known for his landscapes and city views. He was active in Amsterdam and Haarlem during the Dutch Golden Age of painting.
In the 18th century, Toren Jacobsz was a renowned Dutch clockmaker who contributed to the development of precision timekeeping instruments. His clocks were highly sought after by the wealthy and influential families of the time.
Moving into the 19th century, Toren van der Hulst was a Dutch politician and lawyer who served as the Mayor of Rotterdam from 1852 to 1869. He played a crucial role in the city's urban development and modernization efforts during his tenure.
Lastly, in the 20th century, Toren Brinkman was a Dutch architect and urban planner known for his innovative designs and contributions to the reconstruction efforts in the Netherlands after World War II.
While the name Toren is primarily associated with the Dutch language and culture, its meaning and historical significance are deeply rooted in the region's architectural and military heritage, reflecting the importance of towers and fortifications in the past.
People
Toren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Toren as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Toren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Toren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 923 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Toren 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 371,348 US residents.
Is Toren a common name?
We classify Toren as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 943 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Toren most popular?
The single biggest year for Toren was 2009, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Toren is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Toren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 875 people with the name Toren, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,702 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 Toren 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 Toren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Toren leans strongly male. 772 people counted with this name were male (87.5%), compared with 110 female bearers (12.5%). 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 Toren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Toren is White at 61.1%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Two or More Races (10.1%). 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 Toren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Toren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.1% (535 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 Toren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Toren a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Toren 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 Toren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Toren 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 Toren 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 common is the name Toren?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.