Eathan
A masculine name derived from the Gaelic "áodh" meaning fire or radiant one.
Name Census estimates that about 1,188 living Americans carry the first name Eathan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eathan today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eathan births was 2006 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eathan. 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 Eathan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 288,514 Americans
Peak year
2006
80 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,876
Tracked since 1973
Census
Eathan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,685 people with the first name Eathan, which placed it at #8,580 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
#8,580
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,685 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eathan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eathan is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Black (6.1%). 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 Eathan 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 Eathan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.4% · 1,169
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 240
- Black or African American6.1% · 103
- Two or more races5.8% · 97
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 26
Popularity
Eathan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eathan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 619 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
Eathan 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 Eathan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eathans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Eathan, while Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eathan
The name Eathan is a relatively modern form of the traditional Irish name Ethan, which itself derives from the Hebrew name Eitan, meaning "solid" or "enduring." While the origins of this name can be traced back to ancient Hebrew texts, the specific spelling variation of Eathan emerged in the late 20th century, likely as a creative adaptation of the more common Ethan.
In terms of historical references, the name Ethan appears in the Old Testament of the Bible as the name of a wise man who lived during the reign of King Solomon. This Ethan is described as being "wiser than Ezrah the Ezrahite and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol" (1 Kings 4:31). Additionally, the Book of Chronicles mentions an Ethan who was a Levite and a musician in the temple of Jerusalem.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Ethan in its traditional spelling can be found in the 17th century. Ethan Allen (1738-1789) was an American Revolutionary War patriot and leader of the Green Mountain Boys, who famously captured Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775.
Another notable figure with the name Ethan was Ethan Frome (1857-1938), the protagonist of the classic novel of the same name by American writer Edith Wharton. Although a fictional character, Ethan Frome has become a literary icon representing the struggles of rural life in New England.
In the realm of cinema, Ethan Edwards, portrayed by John Wayne in the 1956 film "The Searchers," is a memorable and complex character whose name has become associated with the Western genre and its exploration of frontier life.
A more recent example is Ethan Hawke, the American actor and author born in 1970, who has starred in a wide range of films, including "Dead Poets Society," "Reality Bites," and "Before Sunrise." His portrayal of diverse characters has contributed to the enduring popularity of the name Ethan.
While the specific spelling variation of Eathan is relatively new and less common, it carries the same enduring legacy and historical significance as its traditional counterpart, Ethan. The name's timeless appeal and strong literary and cultural connections make it a distinctive and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with depth and character.
People
Eathan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eathan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eathan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eathan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eathan 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 288,514 US residents.
Is Eathan a common name?
We classify Eathan as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,205 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eathan most popular?
The single biggest year for Eathan was 2006, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eathan is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eathan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,685 people with the name Eathan, or 0.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,580 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 Eathan 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 Eathan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eathan appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,693 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Eathan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eathan is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.2%) and Black (6.1%). 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 Eathan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eathan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (1,169 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 Eathan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eathan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eathan 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 Eathan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eathan 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 Eathan 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 the name Eathan?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Eathan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.