Alwin
Derived from Old English, meaning "noble friend".
Name Census estimates that about 400 living Americans carry the first name Alwin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Alwin today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alwin births was 1915 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alwin. 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 Alwin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
400
~ 1 in 856,886 Americans
Peak year
1915
26 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,331
Tracked since 1895
Census
Alwin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 824 people with the first name Alwin, which placed it at #14,328 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
#14,328
National first-name rank
People counted
824
824 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
36.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alwin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alwin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.2%. The next largest groups are White (28.4%) and Black (19.5%). 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 Alwin 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 Alwin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander36.2% · 298
- White28.4% · 234
- Black or African American19.5% · 161
- Hispanic or Latino12.3% · 101
- Two or more races2.3% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 11
Popularity
Alwin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alwin from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 180 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alwin 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 Alwin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alwins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Illinois, New York recorded the most babies named Alwin, while New York, Illinois, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alwin
The given name Alwin is of Old English and Germanic origin, derived from the elements "alu" meaning "elf" and "wine" meaning "friend." It dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD, and was initially popular in England and areas of northern Germany.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Alwin, a Benedictine monk and Bishop of Thetford in Norfolk, England, who lived in the late 11th century. He was known for his piety and learning and was instrumental in establishing the Benedictine monastery at Thetford.
Another notable Alwin was a 12th-century English cleric and scholar from Cambridgeshire. He served as the Abbot of Ramsey Abbey and was renowned for his writings on theology and philosophy.
In the 13th century, Alwin of Beverley was a prominent English theologian and philosopher. He was a member of the Franciscan Order and wrote extensively on logic, metaphysics, and natural philosophy.
During the Renaissance period, Alwin Reinhard (c. 1450–1519) was a German humanist scholar and poet. He was born in Saxony and studied at the University of Leipzig, where he later served as a professor of poetry and rhetoric.
Alwin Nikolais (1910–1993) was an American choreographer and dancer, considered one of the founders of modern dance theatre. He was known for his innovative use of multimedia and technology in his performances, and his works had a significant influence on contemporary dance.
Throughout history, the name Alwin has maintained a consistent presence, primarily in England and Germany, though its popularity has waxed and waned over time. It has been borne by scholars, clerics, artists, and individuals from various walks of life, reflecting the rich cultural heritage and diversity of its origins.
People
Alwin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alwin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Alwin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alwin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 400 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alwin 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 856,886 US residents.
Is Alwin a common name?
We classify Alwin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 896 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alwin most popular?
The single biggest year for Alwin was 1915, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alwin is about 47 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alwin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 824 people with the name Alwin, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,328 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 Alwin 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 Alwin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alwin leans strongly male. 818 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 11 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Alwin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alwin is Asian/Pacific Islander at 36.2%. The next largest groups are White (28.4%) and Black (19.5%). 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 Alwin most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Alwin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.2% (298 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 Alwin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alwin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alwin 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 Alwin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alwin 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 Alwin 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 named Alwin?
Find out how many people share the name Alwin on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.