Hasten
To move or act with speed or urgency.
Name Census estimates that about 93 living Americans carry the first name Hasten. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Hasten today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hasten births was 2020 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hasten. 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 Hasten. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
93
~ 1 in 3,685,531 Americans
Peak year
2020
9 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,207
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Hasten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hasten from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 32 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
Hasten 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 Hasten 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 Hasten
The name Hasten is an English word derived from the Old English verb "hæstan," which means "to hurry" or "to make haste." It is believed to have originated as a descriptive nickname given to someone known for their swiftness or promptness.
Hasten as a given name first appeared in written records during the late medieval period in England, around the 13th or 14th century. It was likely used as a casual surname or byname before becoming a formal first name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Hasten was Hasten the Dane, a Viking chieftain who led a Danish invasion of England in the late 9th century. He is mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, an important historical record of the period.
In the 16th century, the English playwright and poet John Heywood (c. 1497–c. 1580) wrote a play titled "The Play of the Wether," which featured a character named Hasten. This work is one of the earliest known literary mentions of the name.
During the 17th century, a notable figure with the name Hasten was Hasten Olsen (1610–1676), a Norwegian farmer and landowner who played a significant role in the early settlement of the Telemark region of Norway.
Another historical figure named Hasten was Hasten Reinertsen (1788–1873), a Norwegian farmer and politician who served as a member of the Storting, the Norwegian parliament, in the mid-19th century.
In the 19th century, Hasten Holm (1843–1919) was a Swedish military officer and politician who served as the Governor of the County of Västerbotten in northern Sweden.
While the name Hasten was primarily used in English-speaking and Scandinavian regions throughout history, it has remained relatively uncommon as a first name. However, its unique meaning and historical roots continue to make it a distinctive and intriguing choice for parents seeking a name with a sense of urgency and swiftness.
People
Hasten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hasten 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
Hasten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hasten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 93 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hasten 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 3,685,531 US residents.
Is Hasten a common name?
We classify Hasten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hasten most popular?
The single biggest year for Hasten was 2020, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hasten is about 14 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 Hasten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hasten a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hasten 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 Hasten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hasten 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 Hasten 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 are called Hasten?
You can see how many Americans are named Hasten on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.