Flavian
Of Latin origin, meaning "golden-haired" or "golden-yellow" in color.
Name Census estimates that about 4 living Americans carry the first name Flavian. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Flavian today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Flavian births was 1924 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Flavian. 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 Flavian with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Flavian is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Flavians were born before 1956.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Flavian. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
4
~ 1 in 85,688,585 Americans
Peak year
1924
10 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1953 SSA rank
#4,004
Tracked since 1915
Census
Flavian in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 128 people with the first name Flavian, which placed it at #49,019 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
#49,019
National first-name rank
People counted
128
128 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
43.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Flavian
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Flavian is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Black (25.0%) and Hispanic (14.8%). 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 Flavian 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 Flavian at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White43.8% · 56
- Black or African American25.0% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino14.8% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.1% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 2
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Popularity
Flavian: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Flavian from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 15 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Flavian remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Flavian 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 Flavian 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 Flavian
The name Flavian is derived from the Latin word "flavus," which means "yellow" or "golden-haired." It can be traced back to ancient Roman times, when the gens (clan) Flavia was a prominent Roman family. The name's etymology suggests it may have been given to individuals with fair hair or a golden complexion.
One of the earliest and most notable individuals with the name Flavian was Flavian I, who was the Patriarch of Antioch from 381 to 404 CE. He played a significant role in the early Christian church and helped establish the canon of the New Testament.
Another historical figure named Flavian was Flavian II, who served as the Patriarch of Constantinople from 498 to 512 CE. He was known for his efforts to maintain orthodoxy and his opposition to the Monophysite heresy.
In the 5th century, there was a Roman emperor named Flavius Theodosius, also known as Theodosius I or Theodosius the Great, who ruled from 379 to 395 CE. He was instrumental in establishing Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Flavian of Constantinople, who lived in the 5th century, was a renowned theologian and bishop. He is remembered for his role in the Council of Chalcedon, where he defended the orthodox belief in the dual nature of Christ.
Flavian of York was a 7th-century Archbishop of York, who played a significant role in the Christianization of northern England during the Anglo-Saxon period.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Flavian. Throughout the centuries, the name has been used across various cultures and regions, though it has maintained its Latin roots and connection to ancient Roman heritage.
People
Flavian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Flavian 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
Flavian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Flavian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Flavian 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 85,688,585 US residents.
Is Flavian a common name?
We classify Flavian as "Very Rare". It ranks above 6.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Flavian most popular?
The single biggest year for Flavian was 1924, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Flavian is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Flavian in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 128 people with the name Flavian, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,019 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 Flavian 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 Flavian?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Flavian leans strongly male. 108 people counted with this name were male (85.0%), compared with 19 female bearers (15.0%). 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 Flavian?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Flavian is White at 43.8%. The next largest groups are Black (25.0%) and Hispanic (14.8%). 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 Flavian most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Flavian in the 2020 Census, accounting for 43.8% (56 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 Flavian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Flavian a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Flavian 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 Flavian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Flavian 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 Flavian 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 Americans are named Flavian?
Want to know how many people have the name Flavian? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.