Trent
A masculine name of English origin, derived from a river name.
Name Census estimates that about 48,965 living Americans carry the first name Trent. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Trent today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Trent births was 2001 (1,719 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Trent. 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 Trent with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Trent is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 102 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
49K
~ 1 in 7,000 Americans
Peak year
2001
1,719 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,299
Tracked since 1916
Census
Trent in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 47,903 people with the first name Trent, which placed it at #932 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
#932
National first-name rank
People counted
48K
47,903 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
15.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Trent
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Trent is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Trent 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 Trent at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 38,865
- Black or African American8.4% · 4,044
- Two or more races4.4% · 2,131
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 1,805
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 556
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 502
Gender
Gender distribution for Trent
Out of the 51,567 babies given the name Trent since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Trent as a male name
- Ranked #1,299 in 2024
- 151 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2001 (1,719 births)
Trent as a female name
- Ranked #18,639 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1969 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Trent appears almost entirely male. Of the 47,904 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Trent: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Trent from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 13,068 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Trent 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 Trent during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Trents live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Trent, while District of Columbia, Vermont, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 951 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Trent
The name Trent has its origins in ancient Italy, deriving from the Latin word "Tridentum," which referred to the city now known as Trento. This name has its roots in the time of the Roman Empire, and it is believed to have connections to the Etruscan language and culture that preceded the rise of Rome.
During the Roman era, the name Trent was primarily used as a geographic designation, referring to the area around the city of Trento. However, it eventually evolved into a personal name, likely as a result of individuals adopting the name of their place of origin or residence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Trent can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentioned a Roman soldier named Trentius in his accounts of the Punic Wars (264-146 BC). Although the precise connection between Trentius and the name Trent is unclear, it provides an early historical reference to a similar name.
In the Middle Ages, the name Trent gained prominence due to its association with the Council of Trent, one of the most significant events in the history of the Catholic Church. This ecumenical council, held in the city of Trento between 1545 and 1563, played a crucial role in the Counter-Reformation and the Catholic Church's response to the Protestant Reformation.
One notable individual bearing the name Trent was Trent Lott, an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Mississippi from 1989 to 2007 and as the Senate Majority Leader from 1996 to 2001. He was born on October 9, 1941.
Another famous figure with the name Trent was Trent Reznor, an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as the founder and frontman of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. He was born on May 17, 1965.
In the world of sports, Trent Dilfer, an American former professional football quarterback, made his mark. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons and won a Super Bowl championship with the Baltimore Ravens in 2001. Dilfer was born on March 13, 1972.
In the realm of literature, Trent's Last Case, a novel by E.C. Bentley published in 1913, features a character named Philip Trent, a famous amateur detective. This work is considered a classic in the genre of detective fiction.
Additionally, Trent Lott Jr., the son of the aforementioned Senator Trent Lott, also bears the name. He is an American lawyer and political consultant who served as the Executive Director of the Bipartisan Policy Center from 2017 to 2019. He was born in 1970.
These examples illustrate the enduring presence of the name Trent throughout history, spanning various fields and cultures, from ancient Roman times to the present day.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Trent
People
Trent + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Trent 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
Trent: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Trent?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 48,965 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Trent 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 7,000 US residents.
Is Trent a common name?
We classify Trent as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 51,567 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Trent most popular?
The single biggest year for Trent was 2001, when 1,719 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Trent is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Trent in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 47,903 people with the name Trent, or 15.86 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #932 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 Trent 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 Trent?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Trent appears almost entirely male. Of the 47,904 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Trent?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Trent is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Black (8.4%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Trent most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Trent in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (38,865 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 Trent in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Trent a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Trent 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 Trent still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Trent 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 Trent 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 Trent?
You can see how many people share the name Trent on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.