Beowulf
A masculine Old English name meaning "bee hunter" or "bear".
Name Census estimates that about 76 living Americans carry the first name Beowulf. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Beowulf today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Beowulf births was 2021 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Beowulf. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Beowulf. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
76
~ 1 in 4,509,926 Americans
Peak year
2021
10 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,537
Tracked since 2010
Popularity
Beowulf: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Beowulf from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 47 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Beowulf remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Beowulf 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 Beowulf 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 Beowulf
The name Beowulf has its roots in Old English, the language spoken in what is now England from around the 5th to the 11th century. It is derived from the Old English words "beo" meaning "bee" and "wulf" meaning "wolf". The name is thought to have originated in the Anglo-Saxon period, potentially as early as the 7th century.
The name Beowulf is most famously associated with the eponymous Old English epic poem "Beowulf". This work, which dates back to around the 8th to 11th century, tells the story of a Scandinavian hero who helps the king of the Danes defeat a monstrous being named Grendel. The poem is considered one of the most important works of Old English literature and a significant piece of Anglo-Saxon culture.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Beowulf was Beowulf of Mercia, an Anglo-Saxon prince who lived in the late 7th century. He was the son of Wulfhere, King of Mercia, and is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
Another notable figure with this name was Beowulf, a Scandinavian warrior who is believed to have lived in what is now Denmark or Sweden in the 6th century. He is thought to be the inspiration for the protagonist of the Old English epic poem.
In the 13th century, there was a Beowulf who served as a canon of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Records show he was active in the years around 1240.
During the Renaissance period, there was a German scholar and humanist named Beowulf Maximilian von Anhalt, who lived from 1487 to 1551. He was known for his work in philosophy and theology.
In more recent times, there was a British author named Beowulf Sheehan who lived from 1913 to 1989. He was best known for his novels set in Ireland and his writings on Irish culture and history.
People
Beowulf + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Beowulf as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Beowulf: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Beowulf?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 76 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Beowulf 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 4,509,926 US residents.
Is Beowulf a common name?
We classify Beowulf as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 77 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Beowulf most popular?
The single biggest year for Beowulf was 2021, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Beowulf is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Beowulf in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Beowulf a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Beowulf 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 Beowulf still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Beowulf 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 Beowulf 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Beowulf?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.