Haben
A masculine German name meaning "to have" or "possess".
Name Census estimates that about 71 living Americans carry the first name Haben. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Haben today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haben births was 2013 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haben. 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 Haben with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Haben. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
71
~ 1 in 4,827,526 Americans
Peak year
2013
6 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,907
Tracked since 1992
Census
Haben in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 341 people with the first name Haben, which placed it at #27,024 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
#27,024
National first-name rank
People counted
341
341 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Haben
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haben is Black at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Haben 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 Haben at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.6% · 302
- White4.4% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 9
- Two or more races2.3% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Haben
Haben is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 72 total registrations, 51 (70.8%) were male and 21 (29.2%) were female.
Haben as a male name
- Ranked #12,907 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (6 births)
Haben as a female name
- Ranked #15,951 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2019 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Haben on both sides of the split. Of the 337 people counted with this name, 177 were male (52.5%) and 160 were female (47.5%).
Popularity
Haben: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haben from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 27 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Haben remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Haben 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 Haben 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 Haben
The given name Haben is of Amharic origin, which is a Semitic language spoken in Ethiopia. The name is believed to derived from the Amharic word "habena," meaning "to have" or "to possess." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with concepts of wealth, prosperity, or abundance in ancient Ethiopian culture.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Haben can be traced back to the 13th century, during the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia. It was likely used as a personal name among the nobility and upper classes during this period, though its exact origins remain uncertain.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Haben was Haben Wolde Selassie, an Ethiopian nobleman and military commander who lived in the late 16th century. He played a significant role in the wars against the Ottoman Empire and was known for his bravery and leadership on the battlefield.
Another prominent figure with the name Haben was Haben Fesseha, an Ethiopian scholar and theologian who lived in the 18th century. He was renowned for his contributions to the study of the Ge'ez language, which was the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.
In the 19th century, Haben Mikael was a notable Ethiopian painter and artist who was particularly skilled in traditional Ethiopian church mural paintings. His works can still be found adorning the walls of several ancient churches and monasteries in Ethiopia.
Moving into the 20th century, Haben Mergia was an Ethiopian athlete and long-distance runner who competed in the 1972 Munich Olympics. While he did not win a medal, his participation in the Games brought recognition to Ethiopia's athletic prowess on the international stage.
Lastly, a more recent historical figure with the name Haben is Haben Girma, an American disability rights advocate and the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School. Born in 1988, she has been a tireless advocate for accessibility and inclusion for individuals with disabilities.
While the name Haben may not be as widely known as some other names, it carries a rich cultural heritage and has been borne by notable figures throughout Ethiopian history, from military commanders and scholars to artists and athletes.
People
Haben + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haben as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Haben: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haben?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 71 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haben 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 4,827,526 US residents.
Is Haben a common name?
We classify Haben as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 72 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haben most popular?
The single biggest year for Haben was 2013, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haben is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Haben in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 341 people with the name Haben, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,024 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 Haben 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 Haben?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Haben on both sides of the split. Of the 337 people counted with this name, 177 were male (52.5%) and 160 were female (47.5%). 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 Haben?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Haben is Black at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Haben most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Haben in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (302 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 Haben in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haben a male name?
Yes, 70.8% of people registered as Haben 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 Haben still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haben 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 Haben 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 are called Haben?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.