Ethen
Derived from a Welsh word meaning "fiery" or "energetic".
Name Census estimates that about 3,777 living Americans carry the first name Ethen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ethen today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ethen births was 2009 (233 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ethen. 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 Ethen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.8K
~ 1 in 90,748 Americans
Peak year
2009
233 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,097
Tracked since 1917
Census
Ethen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,404 people with the first name Ethen, which placed it at #5,139 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
#5,139
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,404 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
57.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ethen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ethen is White at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.4%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Ethen 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 Ethen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White57.4% · 1,954
- Hispanic or Latino23.4% · 796
- Black or African American7.9% · 268
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 172
- Two or more races4.8% · 165
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 49
Popularity
Ethen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ethen from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,877 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
Ethen 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 Ethen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ethens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Ethen, while South Dakota, South Carolina, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 67 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ethen
The given name Ethen is believed to have originated from the Hebrew name Ethan, which means "firm" or "enduring." It is derived from the Hebrew word "eten," meaning "strength" or "fortitude." The name can be traced back to ancient Semitic roots and has been in use for centuries.
In Biblical records, Ethan is mentioned as a wise man in the court of King Solomon, known for his wisdom and knowledge. He is described as a descendant of Judah and is credited with authoring Psalm 89 in the Hebrew Bible.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ethen can be found in medieval English records from the 12th and 13th centuries, where it appeared as a variant spelling of the more common name Ethan. During this period, the name was primarily used by Jewish communities in England and other parts of Europe.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Ethen was Ethen Audley, an English nobleman and landowner who lived in the 14th century. He served as a member of Parliament and held influential positions during the reign of Edward III.
In the 17th century, Ethen Allen, an American Revolutionary War patriot and leader of the Green Mountain Boys, was born in 1737 in Connecticut. He played a crucial role in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and is remembered for his defiant response to the British commander's demand for surrender: "In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress!"
Another famous bearer of the name was Ethen Howard, an American jurist and politician who served as a United States Representative from Ohio in the early 19th century. He was born in 1788 and played a significant role in shaping the legal and political landscape of his time.
In the realm of literature, Ethen Frome is the title character of Edith Wharton's 1911 novella of the same name. The story revolves around the tragic life of Ethen Frome, a farmer in a small New England town, and explores themes of isolation, duty, and the consequences of sacrificing personal desires.
Ethen Brewster was an American author and journalist born in 1870. He is known for his work as a war correspondent during the Spanish-American War and for his novels that explored themes of adventure and exploration in the American West.
While the name Ethen has experienced periods of popularity and decline throughout history, it has maintained a presence across various cultures and regions, carrying with it a sense of strength, endurance, and wisdom.
People
Ethen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ethen 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
Ethen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ethen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,777 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ethen 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 90,748 US residents.
Is Ethen a common name?
We classify Ethen as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,841 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ethen most popular?
The single biggest year for Ethen was 2009, when 233 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ethen is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ethen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,404 people with the name Ethen, or 1.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,139 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 Ethen 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 Ethen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ethen appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,408 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Ethen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ethen is White at 57.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.4%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Ethen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ethen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 57.4% (1,954 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 Ethen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ethen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ethen 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 Ethen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ethen 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 Ethen 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 Ethen as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.