Eran
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "watcher" or "watchful".
Name Census estimates that about 664 living Americans carry the first name Eran. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.5% of registrations being male. The average person named Eran today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eran births was 1981 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eran. 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 Eran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
664
~ 1 in 516,196 Americans
Peak year
1981
27 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,287
Tracked since 1966
Census
Eran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,271 people with the first name Eran, which placed it at #10,471 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
#10,471
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,271 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eran is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (7.6%). 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 Eran 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 Eran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.2% · 969
- Black or African American9.1% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino7.6% · 97
- Two or more races3.4% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Eran
Eran leans heavily male at 87.5% of total registrations, but 87 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Eran as a male name
- Ranked #11,287 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1980 (20 births)
Eran as a female name
- Ranked #14,443 in 1997
- 5 female births in 1997
- Peak: 1981 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eran leans strongly male. 1,052 people counted with this name were male (83.2%), compared with 213 female bearers (16.8%).
Popularity
Eran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eran from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 188 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eran 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 Eran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Erans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Eran
The name Eran has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, with roots tracing back to ancient Biblical times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "eren," which means "watchful" or "vigilant." This name was commonly used among the Jewish communities of the Middle East and Mediterranean regions during antiquity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Eran can be found in the Hebrew Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a son of Shuthelah, from the tribe of Ephraim. This reference dates back to around the 13th century BCE, highlighting the ancient roots of this name.
Throughout history, the name Eran has been associated with various notable figures. One of the most prominent was Eran Laor, an Israeli poet and author born in 1959. His works, which explored themes of identity, memory, and the human experience, garnered critical acclaim and contributed significantly to the literary landscape of modern Israel.
Another famous bearer of the name was Eran Zahavi, an Israeli professional football player born in 1987. Zahavi has represented the Israeli national team and played for several prestigious clubs in Europe, cementing his place as one of the most talented strikers in Israeli football history.
In the realm of science, Eran Segal, an Israeli computational biologist and professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science, has made notable contributions to the field of genomics and personalized medicine. Born in 1981, his groundbreaking research has shed light on the intricate relationships between our genes, diet, and health.
Moving to the arts, Eran Kolirin, an Israeli film director and screenwriter born in 1973, has received international recognition for his thought-provoking and critically acclaimed films. His debut feature, "The Band's Visit," won numerous awards and was praised for its unique storytelling and exploration of cultural differences.
While these are just a few examples, the name Eran has been carried by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, each leaving their mark on their respective fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human endeavor.
People
Eran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eran 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
Eran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 664 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eran 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 516,196 US residents.
Is Eran a common name?
We classify Eran as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 696 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eran most popular?
The single biggest year for Eran was 1981, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eran is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,271 people with the name Eran, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,471 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 Eran 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 Eran?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eran leans strongly male. 1,052 people counted with this name were male (83.2%), compared with 213 female bearers (16.8%). 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 Eran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eran is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (7.6%). 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 Eran most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.2% (969 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 Eran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eran a male name?
Yes, 87.5% of people registered as Eran 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 Eran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eran 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 Eran 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 Eran?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.