Bogdan
Given name of Slavic origin meaning "gifted by God".
Name Census estimates that about 728 living Americans carry the first name Bogdan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bogdan today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bogdan births was 2024 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bogdan. 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 Bogdan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
728
~ 1 in 470,816 Americans
Peak year
2024
37 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,215
Tracked since 1954
Census
Bogdan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,336 people with the first name Bogdan, which placed it at #4,346 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
#4,346
National first-name rank
People counted
4.3K
4,336 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
98.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bogdan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bogdan is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Bogdan 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 Bogdan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White98.3% · 4,261
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 37
- Two or more races0.5% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 12
- Black or African American0.1% · 6
Popularity
Bogdan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bogdan from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 248 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bogdan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bogdan 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 Bogdan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bogdans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Illinois, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Bogdan, while Oregon, New York, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bogdan
The given name Bogdan has its roots in the Slavic languages, originating from the compound word "Bog" meaning "God" and "dan" meaning "given". It is believed to have emerged as a personal name in the early medieval period among Slavic communities, particularly in regions that encompassed modern-day Eastern Europe.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Bogdan can be traced back to the 10th century, where it appeared in various historical documents from the Kievan Rus', a medieval East Slavic state. The name gained particular prominence in the 14th century with the rise of the Principality of Moldavia, a historical Romanian principality located in present-day Romania and Moldova.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Bogdan was Bogdan I of Moldavia, also known as Bogdan the Founder (c. 1359-1365). He was a Romanian voivode (ruler) who established the Principality of Moldavia and is celebrated as a founding figure in Romanian history.
Another prominent individual with this name was Bogdan Khmelnitsky (c. 1595-1657), a Hetman (leader) of the Zaporozhian Cossacks who led a successful uprising against Polish-Lithuanian rule in modern-day Ukraine. His rebellion played a significant role in the establishment of the Cossack Hetmanate, a semi-autonomous Cossack state in the mid-17th century.
In the realm of literature, Bogdan Petriceicu Hasdeu (1838-1907) was a prominent Romanian scholar, philosopher, and writer who made significant contributions to various fields, including linguistics, history, and folklore.
The name Bogdan also found its way into religious contexts, with one notable bearer being Bogdan Iacovenco (1786-1844), a Romanian Orthodox bishop and Metropolitan of Moldavia and Suceava.
Another historical figure of note was Bogdan Zylynskyj (1909-1976), a Ukrainian-Canadian painter and sculptor who played a significant role in the development of modern art in Canada during the mid-20th century.
Over the centuries, the name Bogdan has maintained its presence across various Slavic and Eastern European cultures, often carrying connotations of divine origin and reverence for religious or spiritual beliefs.
People
Bogdan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bogdan 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
Bogdan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bogdan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 728 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bogdan 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 470,816 US residents.
Is Bogdan a common name?
We classify Bogdan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 744 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bogdan most popular?
The single biggest year for Bogdan was 2024, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bogdan is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bogdan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,336 people with the name Bogdan, or 1.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,346 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 Bogdan 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 Bogdan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bogdan appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,334 people counted with this name, 99.9% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Bogdan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bogdan is White at 98.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (0.9%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Bogdan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bogdan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.3% (4,261 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 Bogdan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bogdan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bogdan 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 Bogdan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bogdan 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 Bogdan 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 have Bogdan as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Bogdan, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.