Asten
A masculine name of English origin meaning "from the eastern town".
Name Census estimates that about 53 living Americans carry the first name Asten. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Asten today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Asten births was 1983 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Asten. 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 Asten with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Asten. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
53
~ 1 in 6,467,063 Americans
Peak year
1983
8 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,364
Tracked since 1983
Census
Asten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 178 people with the first name Asten, which placed it at #41,266 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
#41,266
National first-name rank
People counted
178
178 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Asten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asten is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (33.1%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Asten 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 Asten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.4% · 88
- Black or African American33.1% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 16
- Two or more races4.5% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Asten
Asten leans heavily male at 85.2% of total registrations, but 8 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Asten as a male name
- Ranked #11,030 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (7 births)
Asten as a female name
- Ranked #7,364 in 1983
- 8 female births in 1983
- Peak: 1983 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Asten on both sides of the split. Of the 174 people counted with this name, 106 were male (60.9%) and 68 were female (39.1%).
Popularity
Asten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Asten from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 16 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
Asten 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 Asten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Asten
The name Asten is believed to have originated from the Old English language, tracing its roots back to the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain. It is derived from the combination of two Old English words, "æst" meaning "grace" or "favor," and "an" meaning "one" or "single." Together, Asten can be interpreted as "the single one favored with grace" or "the one who stands alone in grace."
In its early usage, the name Asten was predominantly found in regions that were heavily influenced by Anglo-Saxon culture, such as parts of present-day England and the surrounding areas. While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is likely that it was used as a personal name during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Asten dates back to the 11th century, when it was found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and population in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population prior to the Norman Conquest.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Asten. One such figure was Asten of Hertford, a 12th-century English monk and scholar known for his contributions to the study of canon law. Another was Sir Asten Brownrigg (1558-1627), an English soldier and statesman who served as the Governor of Berwick-upon-Tweed during the reign of King James I.
In the realm of literature, Asten Calmady was the protagonist of a novel of the same name written by Lucas Malet (1852-1931), a popular English writer of the late Victorian era. The character, who was born with a severe physical deformity, served as a commentary on societal attitudes towards disability and acceptance.
Moving into the 20th century, Asten Hawkins (1904-1986) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scores, including the popular sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show." Additionally, Asten Simonsen (1927-2019) was a Norwegian author and poet whose works explored themes of nature, love, and the human condition.
While the name Asten may not be as widely used today as it was in the past, it remains a unique and historic name with a rich cultural heritage rooted in the Anglo-Saxon tradition.
People
Asten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Asten 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
Asten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Asten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Asten 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 6,467,063 US residents.
Is Asten a common name?
We classify Asten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 54 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Asten most popular?
The single biggest year for Asten was 1983, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Asten is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Asten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 178 people with the name Asten, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,266 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 Asten 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 Asten?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Asten on both sides of the split. Of the 174 people counted with this name, 106 were male (60.9%) and 68 were female (39.1%). 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 Asten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asten is White at 49.4%. The next largest groups are Black (33.1%) and Hispanic (9.0%). 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 Asten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Asten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.4% (88 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 Asten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Asten a male name?
Yes, 85.2% of people registered as Asten 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 Asten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Asten 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 Asten 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 Asten?
Want to know how many people share the name Asten? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.