Fenrir
A masculine Old Norse name meaning "he who dwells in the marshy plains".
Name Census estimates that about 113 living Americans carry the first name Fenrir. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fenrir today is around 5 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fenrir births was 2023 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fenrir. 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 Fenrir with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
113
~ 1 in 3,033,224 Americans
Peak year
2023
20 babies that year
Average age
5
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,499
Tracked since 2016
Popularity
Fenrir: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fenrir from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 82 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fenrir 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 Fenrir 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 Fenrir
Fenrir is a name of Norse origin, derived from the Old Norse word "fenrir," meaning "he who dwells in the marshes." Its roots can be traced back to the Viking era, around the 8th to 11th centuries AD, when the Norse culture flourished across Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe.
The name gained significant prominence in Norse mythology, where Fenrir was the name of a monstrous wolf, depicted as the son of the trickster god Loki and the giantess Angrboða. According to the Prose Edda, an Old Norse collection of myths and legends, Fenrir was prophesied to play a crucial role in the events of Ragnarök, the Norse apocalypse.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Fenrir can be found in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems dating back to the 13th century. The poem "Völuspá" (The Prophecy of the Seeress) speaks of Fenrir's birth and his eventual breaking free from his chains during Ragnarök, leading to the destruction of the gods and the world.
Throughout history, the name Fenrir has been associated with various individuals, primarily those with a connection to Norse culture or mythology. One notable example is Fenrir Greyback, a fictional character from the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling, who is depicted as a werewolf.
Another individual bearing the name Fenrir was Fenrir Saeviðsson (1927-2010), an Icelandic writer and poet known for his works exploring Norse mythology and Icelandic folklore.
In the realm of music, Fenrir is the name of a Swedish black metal band formed in 1994, further perpetuating the association of the name with Norse themes.
Additionally, Fenrir was the name given to a wolf in the popular animated film "Alpha and Omega" (2010), further solidifying the connection between the name and the image of a powerful, fierce wolf.
Lastly, Fenrir Hagen (1900-1991) was a Norwegian novelist and poet whose works often drew inspiration from Norse mythology and the rugged landscapes of Norway.
People
Fenrir + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fenrir 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
Fenrir: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fenrir?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 113 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fenrir 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 3,033,224 US residents.
Is Fenrir a common name?
We classify Fenrir as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 114 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fenrir most popular?
The single biggest year for Fenrir was 2023, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fenrir is about 5 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Fenrir in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fenrir a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fenrir 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 Fenrir still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fenrir 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 Fenrir 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Fenrir?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.