Craven
Someone showing a lack of courage or being cowardly.
Name Census estimates that about 210 living Americans carry the first name Craven. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Craven today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Craven births was 1956 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Craven. 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.
People living today
210
~ 1 in 1,632,164 Americans
Peak year
1956
12 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2016 SSA rank
#9,878
Tracked since 1916
Census
Craven in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 323 people with the first name Craven, which placed it at #28,012 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
#28,012
National first-name rank
People counted
323
323 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Craven
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Craven is White at 56.3%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Craven 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 Craven at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.3% · 182
- Black or African American26.6% · 86
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 21
- Two or more races4.0% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.7% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 9
Popularity
Craven: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Craven from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 70 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Craven remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Craven 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 Craven during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cravens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Craven
The name Craven originates from the Old English word "cræftig," which means "crafty" or "skillful." It was initially used as a surname, referring to someone who possessed a particular craft or skill. The name has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon culture and can be traced back to the 5th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Craven is found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions several individuals with the surname Craven, suggesting that the name was already in use during the Norman conquest of England.
In the 12th century, the name Craven gained prominence when it was associated with the Craven family, a powerful noble family from Yorkshire, England. The Craven family played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars fought between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over the English throne.
One of the most notable individuals with the name Craven was William Craven, 1st Earl of Craven (1608-1697). He was an English army officer and courtier who served under King Charles I during the English Civil War. William Craven was known for his loyalty to the royalist cause and his support for Queen Henrietta Maria.
Another famous bearer of the name was Thomas Craven (1593-1664), an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his work "The Nursery," a collection of poems and plays written for the entertainment of children. Craven was also a tutor to the children of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria.
In the 18th century, Wills Hill, 1st Earl of Hillsborough (1718-1793), born Wills Craven, was a prominent British politician. He served as Secretary of State for the Colonies and played a significant role in the events leading up to the American Revolution.
The name Craven also appeared in religious contexts. One example is Robert Craven (1685-1734), an English Presbyterian minister and author. He wrote several theological works, including "The True Gospel-Truth Stated and Vindicated" and "The Orthodox Protestant Dissenter's Catechism."
Lastly, Joseph Craven (1784-1851) was an English architect and civil engineer. He is best known for his work on the Hull and Selby Railway, one of the earliest railways in England, and for designing several churches and public buildings in Yorkshire.
People
Craven + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Craven 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
Craven: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Craven?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 210 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Craven 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 1,632,164 US residents.
Is Craven a common name?
We classify Craven as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 366 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Craven most popular?
The single biggest year for Craven was 1956, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Craven is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Craven in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 323 people with the name Craven, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,012 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 Craven 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 Craven?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Craven leans strongly male. 298 people counted with this name were male (94.6%), compared with 17 female bearers (5.4%). 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 Craven?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Craven is White at 56.3%. The next largest groups are Black (26.6%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Craven most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Craven in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.3% (182 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 Craven in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Craven a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Craven 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 Craven still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Craven 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 Craven 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 common is the name Craven?
See how many Americans are named Craven on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.