Edwen
A masculine name derived from Old English meaning "wealthy friend".
Name Census estimates that about 79 living Americans carry the first name Edwen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Edwen today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Edwen births was 2002 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Edwen. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Edwen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
79
~ 1 in 4,338,663 Americans
Peak year
2002
10 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2011 SSA rank
#11,228
Tracked since 1995
Census
Edwen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 198 people with the first name Edwen, which placed it at #38,638 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
#38,638
National first-name rank
People counted
198
198 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Edwen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Edwen is Hispanic at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and White (7.1%). 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 Edwen 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 Edwen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino73.2% · 145
- Black or African American10.6% · 21
- White7.1% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 10
- Two or more races3.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Edwen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Edwen from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 64 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
Edwen 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 Edwen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Edwen
The name Edwen is thought to have its origins in the Old English language, which was spoken in parts of what is now England and southeastern Scotland from around the 5th to the 11th centuries. It is likely derived from the combination of two Old English words: "ead," meaning prosperity or fortune, and "wine," meaning friend or companion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Edwen can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a collection of annals chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons in England. The name is mentioned in an entry dating back to the 9th century, referring to an individual named Edwen who held a significant position within the kingdom of Wessex.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Edwen remained in use, although it was not particularly widespread. One notable figure bearing this name was Edwen of Boldon, a 13th-century English landowner and nobleman whose name appears in various legal documents and charters from that period.
In the 16th century, Edwen Sandys (1519-1588) was an influential English ecclesiastic and prelate who served as the Archbishop of York from 1576 until his death. He played a significant role in the English Reformation and was a prominent figure in the Church of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Another historical figure with the name Edwen was Edwen Owen (1720-1770), a Welsh poet and writer who was widely celebrated for his contributions to Welsh literature. His works, written in the Welsh language, included poems, essays, and translations of classical texts.
During the 19th century, Edwen Barton (1838-1916) was a British artist and illustrator known for his detailed botanical illustrations and his work for various publications, including The Illustrated London News and The Graphic.
While not as common as some other names, Edwen has maintained a presence throughout history, often associated with individuals from various cultural and professional backgrounds. The name's origins in Old English and its connection to concepts of prosperity and friendship have contributed to its enduring legacy as a given name.
People
Edwen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Edwen 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
Edwen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Edwen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 79 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Edwen 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 4,338,663 US residents.
Is Edwen a common name?
We classify Edwen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 80 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Edwen most popular?
The single biggest year for Edwen was 2002, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Edwen 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 Edwen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 198 people with the name Edwen, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,638 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 Edwen 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 Edwen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Edwen leans strongly male. 191 people counted with this name were male (96.5%), compared with 7 female bearers (3.5%). 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 Edwen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Edwen is Hispanic at 73.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.6%) and White (7.1%). 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 Edwen most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Edwen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (145 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 Edwen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Edwen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Edwen 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 Edwen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Edwen 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 Edwen 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 share the name Edwen?
Want to know how many people share the name Edwen? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.