Wren
A diminutive form of a word meaning "small bird".
Name Census estimates that about 14,125 living Americans carry the first name Wren. It sits at #213 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Wren today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wren births was 2022 (1,828 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wren. 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 Wren with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Wren is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
14K
~ 1 in 24,266 Americans
Peak year
2022
1,828 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#213
Tracked since 1888
Census
Wren in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,911 people with the first name Wren, which placed it at #3,151 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
#3,151
National first-name rank
People counted
6.9K
6,911 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wren
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wren is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Wren 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 Wren at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.3% · 5,690
- Two or more races7.1% · 490
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 428
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 130
- Black or African American1.8% · 124
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 49
Gender
Gender distribution for Wren
Wren leans heavily female at 85.6% of total registrations, but 2,063 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Wren as a male name
- Ranked #1,025 in 2024
- 217 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (224 births)
Wren as a female name
- Ranked #213 in 2024
- 1,442 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (1,607 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wren leans strongly female. 5,808 people counted with this name were female (84.1%), compared with 1,098 male bearers (15.9%).
Popularity
Wren: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wren from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 7,686 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
Wren 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 Wren during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wrens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Wren, while Rhode Island, Hawaii, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 236 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Wren
The name Wren has its origins in Old English, derived from the word "wrenna," which means a small songbird of the same name. This name's history can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD.
In the early days, the name was likely used as a nickname or a surname for someone who was associated with the small brown bird or perhaps had a resemblance to its lively and energetic nature. Over time, it transitioned into a given name, particularly for girls.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wren can be found in the famous Domesday Book, a manuscript record of a great survey commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. It lists an individual named "Wrenna" as a landowner in Lincolnshire, England.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Wren. One of the most famous was Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), the renowned English architect who played a significant role in rebuilding London after the Great Fire of 1666. His most iconic work is St. Paul's Cathedral, which still stands as a landmark in London.
Another notable figure was Wren Bunting Nevin (1836-1935), an American painter and author known for her illustrations in children's books and her works depicting scenes from the American Civil War.
In literature, the name Wren appears in the novel "The House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton, where one of the characters is named Wren Gersen. The character's name is a nod to the small, lively bird.
During the Tudor period, there was a woman named Wren Hoskyns (c. 1508-1558), who was the mistress of King Henry VIII and the mother of one of his illegitimate children.
Another historical figure with the name Wren was Wren Brent (1943-2003), an American actress known for her roles in television shows like "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie."
While the name Wren has its roots in Old English and was initially used as a surname or nickname, it has evolved into a charming and unique given name, particularly for girls, carrying with it the imagery of a lively and free-spirited songbird.
People
Wren + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wren as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wren: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wren?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14,125 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wren 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 24,266 US residents.
Is Wren a common name?
We classify Wren as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,363 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wren most popular?
The single biggest year for Wren was 2022, when 1,828 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wren is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wren in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,911 people with the name Wren, or 2.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,151 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 Wren 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 Wren?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wren leans strongly female. 5,808 people counted with this name were female (84.1%), compared with 1,098 male bearers (15.9%). 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 Wren?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wren is White at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.1%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Wren most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wren in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (5,690 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 Wren in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wren a female name?
Yes, 85.6% of people registered as Wren in the SSA data are female. 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 Wren still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wren 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 Wren 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 Wren?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.