Cohen
A Hebrew masculine name meaning "priest" or "minister".
Name Census estimates that about 21,505 living Americans carry the first name Cohen. It sits at #239 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (98.4% of registrations). The average person named Cohen today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cohen births was 2024 (1,500 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cohen. 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 Cohen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Cohen is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 352 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Cohen 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
22K
~ 1 in 15,938 Americans
Peak year
2024
1,500 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#239
Tracked since 1912
Census
Cohen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,447 people with the first name Cohen, which placed it at #1,940 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
#1,940
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
14,447 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cohen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cohen is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Cohen 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 Cohen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.6% · 12,362
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 754
- Two or more races5.1% · 734
- Black or African American2.6% · 379
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 128
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 90
Gender
Gender distribution for Cohen
Cohen leans heavily male at 98.4% of total registrations, but 352 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Cohen as a male name
- Ranked #239 in 2024
- 1,475 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (1,475 births)
Cohen as a female name
- Ranked #5,167 in 2024
- 25 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (40 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cohen leans strongly male. 14,208 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 243 female bearers (1.7%).
Popularity
Cohen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cohen from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 10,102 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cohen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cohen 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 Cohen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cohens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Georgia recorded the most babies named Cohen, while New Mexico, New Jersey, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 442 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cohen
The name Cohen has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew word "kohen," which means "priest." This word traces its roots back to ancient Semitic languages, with similar spellings found in Aramaic and Arabic.
In the Hebrew Bible, the Kohanim were members of the priestly caste responsible for worship and sacrificial rituals in the ancient Israelite temples. The name Cohen was originally used to refer to individuals belonging to this specific lineage and vocation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cohen can be found in the Book of Exodus, where Aaron, the brother of Moses, is referred to as a Kohen. The Kohanim are also mentioned extensively in the Book of Leviticus, which outlines their duties and responsibilities within the Israelite religious tradition.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Cohen. One of the most famous was Rabbi Akiva ben Joseph, a prominent Jewish scholar and leader who lived in the 2nd century CE. He played a crucial role in the development of Rabbinic Judaism and is revered for his teachings and martyrdom.
Another notable Cohen was Simhah ben Samuel of Vitry, a French Talmudic scholar who lived in the 12th century. He is best known for his work "Mahzor Vitry," a comprehensive guide to Jewish liturgy and customs.
In the realm of philosophy, we find Moses ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides, a 12th-century Jewish philosopher, astronomer, and one of the most influential figures in medieval Jewish thought. His works, such as the "Mishneh Torah" and "Guide for the Perplexed," had a lasting impact on Jewish law and theology.
Moving forward in time, we encounter Hermann Cohen, a German philosopher who lived from 1842 to 1918. He was a prominent figure in the neo-Kantian movement and made significant contributions to the fields of ethics, aesthetics, and Jewish philosophy.
Finally, we have Leonard Cohen, the renowned Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, and novelist, who lived from 1934 to 2016. He is best known for his poetic and introspective lyrics, as well as his iconic songs like "Hallelujah" and "Suzanne."
People
Cohen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cohen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cohen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cohen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21,505 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cohen 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 15,938 US residents.
Is Cohen a common name?
We classify Cohen as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,796 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cohen most popular?
The single biggest year for Cohen was 2024, when 1,500 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cohen is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cohen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,447 people with the name Cohen, or 4.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,940 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 Cohen 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 Cohen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cohen leans strongly male. 14,208 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 243 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Cohen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cohen is White at 85.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.2%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Cohen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cohen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.6% (12,362 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 Cohen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cohen a male name?
Yes, 98.4% of people registered as Cohen 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 Cohen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cohen 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 Cohen 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 are called Cohen?
You can see how many people share the name Cohen on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.