Dryden
A name derived from an Old English surname meaning "dry valley".
Name Census estimates that about 450 living Americans carry the first name Dryden. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Dryden today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Dryden births was 2007 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Dryden. 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 Dryden with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
450
~ 1 in 761,676 Americans
Peak year
2007
31 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,191
Tracked since 1992
Census
Dryden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 486 people with the first name Dryden, which placed it at #21,031 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
#21,031
National first-name rank
People counted
486
486 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Dryden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dryden is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.6%) 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 Dryden 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 Dryden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 394
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 42
- Two or more races5.1% · 25
- Black or African American2.3% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 6
Popularity
Dryden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Dryden from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 226 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Dryden 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 Dryden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Drydens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Dryden
The name Dryden has its origins in Old English, derived from the words "dryge" (dry) and "denu" (valley or den). It likely originated as a place name referring to a dry valley or dry den, and was later adopted as a surname. The earliest recorded use of Dryden as a surname dates back to the 12th century in England.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Dryden was the English poet and literary critic John Dryden (1631-1700). He was a prominent figure in the Restoration period and is considered a master of heroic couplets and satire. His works include "Absalom and Achitophel," "MacFlecknoe," and translations of classical works like Virgil's "Aeneid."
Another notable bearer of the name was Charles Dryden (1781-1860), an English clergyman and editor who published an influential edition of Sir Walter Scott's works. He also served as the rector of Bamburgh in Northumberland.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Dryden was John Dryden (1631-1701), a Quaker who emigrated to Pennsylvania in the late 17th century. He was a prominent member of the Quaker community and served as a member of the Provincial Council of Pennsylvania.
Robert Dryden (1856-1929) was a Canadian businessman and politician who served as the sixth Premier of Ontario from 1905 to 1910. He played a significant role in the development of the hydroelectric power industry in Ontario.
In the field of medicine, John Dryden (1909-1989) was a British physician and medical researcher who made significant contributions to the understanding of diabetes and metabolic disorders. He served as the president of the British Diabetic Association and was knighted for his contributions to medicine.
While the name Dryden has its roots in Old English and was initially used as a place name or surname, it has been adopted as a given name over time. These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Dryden throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
People
Dryden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Dryden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Dryden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Dryden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 450 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Dryden 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 761,676 US residents.
Is Dryden a common name?
We classify Dryden as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 456 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Dryden most popular?
The single biggest year for Dryden was 2007, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Dryden is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Dryden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 486 people with the name Dryden, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,031 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 Dryden 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 Dryden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Dryden leans strongly male. 447 people counted with this name were male (91.8%), compared with 40 female bearers (8.2%). 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 Dryden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Dryden is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.6%) 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 Dryden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Dryden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (394 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 Dryden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Dryden a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Dryden 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 Dryden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Dryden 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 Dryden 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 Dryden as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.