Fen
A derived form of Fenella, meaning "white shoulder" or "white meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 28 living Americans carry the first name Fen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fen today is around 4 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fen births was 2021 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fen. 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 Fen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
28
~ 1 in 12,241,226 Americans
Peak year
2021
8 babies that year
Average age
4
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,180
Tracked since 2020
Census
Fen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 846 people with the first name Fen, which placed it at #14,041 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
#14,041
National first-name rank
People counted
846
846 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.6%. The next largest groups are White (10.4%) and Hispanic (1.4%). 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 Fen 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 Fen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.6% · 733
- White10.4% · 88
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 12
- Two or more races0.7% · 6
- Black or African American0.6% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Fen: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Fen 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 Fen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 28 | 0 | 28 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Fen
The given name Fen has its origins in Old English, traced back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old English word "fenn," which means "marsh" or "fen," referring to a low-lying wetland area. The name likely emerged as a descriptive name for individuals living near or associated with such marshy regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fen can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record compiled in the late 9th century. The Chronicle mentions a figure named Fen, who was a chieftain or leader of a tribe in the region now known as East Anglia, England.
In the 11th century, the name Fen appeared in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and wealth commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxon population at the time of the Norman Conquest.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Fen remained relatively uncommon but held a connection to the English countryside and rural areas. One notable individual bearing the name was Fen Ditton, a 13th-century landowner and knight who lived in the village of Fen Ditton, near Cambridge.
During the Renaissance period, the name Fen gained some literary references. In the 16th century play "The Life of King Henry VIII" by William Shakespeare, a character named Fen is mentioned as one of the gentlemen attending the King's court.
In more recent history, several individuals named Fen have achieved recognition in various fields. Fen Taitt (1911-1988) was a prominent West Indian cricketer who played for the West Indies national team in the 1930s and 1940s. Fen Holgate (1936-2018) was an Australian artist known for her abstract landscape paintings depicting the Australian outback.
Another notable figure was Fen Hampson (1952-2019), a Canadian political scientist and professor who specialized in international affairs and conflict resolution. Fen Elswyk (1878-1962) was a Dutch artist and illustrator renowned for his etchings and woodcuts depicting scenes of rural life in the Netherlands.
Overall, the name Fen has its roots in Old English, reflecting a connection to marshlands and the natural environment. While not a widely popular name, it has persisted throughout history, appearing in various contexts and carrying a sense of rural heritage.
People
Fen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fen 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 12,241,226 US residents.
Is Fen a common name?
We classify Fen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 45.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 28 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fen most popular?
The single biggest year for Fen was 2021, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fen is about 4 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 846 people with the name Fen, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,041 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 Fen 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 Fen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Fen on both sides of the split. Of the 845 people counted with this name, 203 were male (24.0%) and 642 were female (76.0%). 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 Fen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fen is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.6%. The next largest groups are White (10.4%) and Hispanic (1.4%). 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 Fen most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Fen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (733 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 Fen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fen 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 Fen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fen 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 Fen 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 Fen as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Fen, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.