Auden
An English masculine name of uncertain meaning, possibly of Old English origin.
Name Census estimates that about 2,706 living Americans carry the first name Auden. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 65.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Auden today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Auden births was 2020 (185 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Auden. 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.
Key insights
- • Auden is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 126,665 Americans
Peak year
2020
185 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,890
Tracked since 1975
Gender
Gender distribution for Auden
Auden is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 2,730 total registrations, 1,796 (65.8%) were male and 934 (34.2%) were female.
Auden as a male name
- Ranked #1,890 in 2024
- 84 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (128 births)
Auden as a female name
- Ranked #2,503 in 2024
- 71 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (97 births)
Popularity
Auden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Auden from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,300 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Auden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Auden 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 Auden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Audens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Auden, while Maryland, Louisiana, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Auden
The name Auden has its origins in the Old English language and is derived from the word "aud," which means wealth or fortune. The name gained popularity during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, particularly between the 5th and 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Auden can be found in the Domesday Book, a great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name was primarily used in the northern regions of England during this time.
In the 13th century, the name Auden appeared in various historical records, including the Hundred Rolls of 1273, which documented landowners in England. One notable bearer of the name was Sir Auden de Valence, a prominent nobleman and military commander who served under King Edward I in the late 13th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Auden was associated with several notable figures. One of the most renowned was the English poet W.H. Auden (1907-1973), considered one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. His works, including "Funeral Blues" and "September 1, 1939," explored themes of love, politics, and the human condition.
Another famous bearer of the name was the American composer and songwriter Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973), who was a contemporary of W.H. Auden and shared the same birth year and date of death. His compositions included operas, ballets, and film scores, and he was known for his collaborations with writers like Christopher Isherwood.
In the field of literature, the name Auden was also associated with the American novelist and short story writer Mary Auden (1869-1941), who was part of the early 20th-century literary movement known as the Chicago Renaissance.
Lastly, the name Auden has historical connections to the world of sports. One notable bearer was Auden Tresidder (1913-1983), an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club in the 1930s and 1940s.
People
Auden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Auden 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
Auden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Auden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,706 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Auden 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 126,665 US residents.
Is Auden a common name?
We classify Auden as "Rare". It ranks above 94.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,730 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Auden most popular?
The single biggest year for Auden was 2020, when 185 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Auden is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Auden a male name?
Yes, 65.8% of people registered as Auden 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.
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.