Haegen
A variant spelling of the Swedish name Hagen, meaning "from the hedge".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Haegen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Haegen today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Haegen births was 2015 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Haegen. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Haegen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2015
6 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,728
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Haegen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Haegen from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6 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
Haegen 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 Haegen 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 Haegen
The given name Haegen is of Germanic origin, tracing its roots back to the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old High German name "Hagan," which itself is believed to have evolved from the Proto-Germanic word "*hag-an-," meaning "hawthorn" or "hedge."
In ancient Germanic mythology, the hawthorn tree held significant symbolism, often associated with protection, fertility, and boundaries. As such, the name Haegen may have initially been bestowed upon individuals with the intention of invoking these symbolic meanings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Haegen can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a renowned German epic poem dating back to the 13th century. In this epic, Hagen is portrayed as a powerful warrior and trusted vassal to King Gunther.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Haegen. In the 9th century, Hagen of Trondheim was a Norwegian chieftain who played a crucial role in the Christianization of Norway. Later, in the 12th century, Hagen von Beningen was a German poet and knight known for his contributions to Middle High German literature.
Another prominent figure was Hagen von Evernien, a 13th-century German knight and poet who participated in the Crusades. In the 16th century, Hagen Prutenius was a German humanist scholar and rector of the University of Rostock.
Lastly, in the 19th century, Hagen Gottfried Gandert was a German artist renowned for his landscape paintings, particularly those depicting the picturesque regions of the Black Forest.
While the name Haegen may have evolved over time and across different cultures, its origins can be traced back to the ancient Germanic world, where it held symbolic meanings rooted in nature and the reverence for the hawthorn tree.
People
Haegen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Haegen 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
Haegen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Haegen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Haegen 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Haegen a common name?
We classify Haegen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Haegen most popular?
The single biggest year for Haegen was 2015, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Haegen is about 9 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 Haegen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Haegen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Haegen 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 Haegen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Haegen 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 Haegen 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 Americans are named Haegen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.