Arden
Grove or shady glade, a masculine given name of Celtic origin.
Name Census estimates that about 11,110 living Americans carry the first name Arden. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 53.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Arden today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arden births was 2024 (479 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arden. 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 Arden with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Arden started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Arden sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,851 Americans
Peak year
2024
479 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2024 SSA rank
#943
Tracked since 1881
Census
Arden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,803 people with the first name Arden, which placed it at #2,495 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
#2,495
National first-name rank
People counted
9.8K
9,803 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arden is White at 77.8%. The next largest groups are Black (6.0%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Arden 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 Arden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.8% · 7,623
- Black or African American6.0% · 586
- Two or more races5.5% · 539
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 501
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 484
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 70
Gender
Gender distribution for Arden
Arden is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 15,593 total registrations, 8,340 (53.5%) were male and 7,253 (46.5%) were female.
Arden as a male name
- Ranked #943 in 2024
- 242 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (242 births)
Arden as a female name
- Ranked #1,051 in 2024
- 237 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (300 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Arden on both sides of the split. Of the 9,804 people counted with this name, 4,242 were male (43.3%) and 5,562 were female (56.7%).
Popularity
Arden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arden from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,377 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Arden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arden 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 Arden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ardens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Arden, while New Hampshire, Kentucky, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 221 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arden
The name Arden has its origins in the Old English language, where it was derived from the word "ardern," meaning "valley of the eagle." This name was initially used to refer to areas or places where eagles were known to nest or reside. The name's earliest recorded use as a given name dates back to the 13th century.
During the Middle Ages, Arden was a popular name among the English nobility and gentry, particularly those who owned estates or lands in forested areas or valleys. The name gained further prominence in literature through its association with the Forest of Arden, a famous setting in William Shakespeare's play "As You Like It," written in the late 16th century.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Arden was Arden of Faversham, an English landowner who lived in the late 13th century. He was the subject of a famous medieval play, "Arden of Faversham," which depicted his tragic murder by his wife and her lover.
Another notable figure was Arden Wingate (1889-1944), a British Army officer who played a significant role in the formation and training of special forces units during World War II. He is remembered for his innovative tactics and leadership in the Middle East and Burma campaigns.
In the realm of literature, Arden Quin (1913-2012) was an American author and playwright known for her works exploring themes of family, relationships, and personal identity. Her play "The Closing Door" was a Broadway success in the 1950s.
Arden Myrin (born 1973) is an American actress and comedian who has appeared in numerous television shows and films, including "MADtv," "Reno 911!," and "Insecure."
Arden Cho (born 1985) is an American actress and model of Korean descent, best known for her roles in the TV series "Teen Wolf" and "Chicago Med."
Throughout history, the name Arden has been associated with natural beauty, nobility, and literary heritage. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its connection to the English countryside and the cultural significance it has gained through literary works and historical figures.
People
Arden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arden 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
Arden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,110 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arden 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 30,851 US residents.
Is Arden a common name?
We classify Arden as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,593 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arden most popular?
The single biggest year for Arden was 2024, when 479 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arden is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,803 people with the name Arden, or 3.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,495 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 Arden 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 Arden?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Arden on both sides of the split. Of the 9,804 people counted with this name, 4,242 were male (43.3%) and 5,562 were female (56.7%). 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 Arden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arden is White at 77.8%. The next largest groups are Black (6.0%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Arden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Arden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.8% (7,623 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 Arden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arden a male name?
Yes, 53.5% of people registered as Arden 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 Arden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arden 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 Arden 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 share the name Arden?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.