Kasten
A masculine German name derived from the word "Kaste," meaning chest or case.
Name Census estimates that about 219 living Americans carry the first name Kasten. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kasten today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kasten births was 2012 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kasten. 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.
People living today
219
~ 1 in 1,565,088 Americans
Peak year
2012
22 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,400
Tracked since 1995
Census
Kasten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 222 people with the first name Kasten, which placed it at #35,960 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
#35,960
National first-name rank
People counted
222
222 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kasten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kasten is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.6%) and Black (5.4%). 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 Kasten 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 Kasten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.8% · 166
- Hispanic or Latino8.6% · 19
- Black or African American5.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.0% · 11
- Two or more races4.5% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 4
Popularity
Kasten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kasten 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 115 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Kasten remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kasten 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 Kasten 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 Kasten
The name Kasten is believed to have originated from the German language, deriving from the word "Kaste," which means "box" or "chest." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with occupations related to carpentry or woodworking in its early usage.
During the Middle Ages, the name Kasten was prevalent in various German-speaking regions, particularly in areas where woodworking and craftsmanship were prominent trades. Records from this period indicate that individuals with this name were often involved in the production of furniture, storage containers, and other wooden items.
One of the earliest documented references to the name Kasten can be found in the 13th-century chronicles of the city of Nuremberg, where a woodworker named Hans Kasten was mentioned for his contribution to the construction of a local church's altar.
In the 16th century, a prominent figure bearing the name Kasten was Johann Kasten, a German carpenter and architect who played a significant role in the design and construction of several notable buildings in the city of Augsburg. His work showcased his exceptional craftsmanship and attention to detail, earning him a reputation as a master woodworker.
Another notable individual with the name Kasten was Wilhelm Kasten, a 19th-century German poet and writer. Born in 1828 in the town of Hersfeld, Kasten's literary works often drew inspiration from the natural world and the beauty of the German countryside, reflecting his deep connection to his homeland.
In the realm of music, the name Kasten was carried by Franz Kasten, a German composer and organist who lived during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His compositions, primarily focused on sacred and instrumental works, were highly regarded during his lifetime and contributed to the rich musical heritage of the region.
Lastly, the name Kasten gained recognition in the field of science through the work of Johannes Kasten, a 20th-century German physicist and inventor. Kasten's contributions to the development of various optical and measuring instruments, particularly in the field of spectroscopy, earned him widespread acclaim within the scientific community.
These examples demonstrate the diverse range of individuals who have borne the name Kasten throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the cultural richness of the German-speaking world.
People
Kasten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kasten as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with K
Other first names starting with K with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Kasten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kasten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 219 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kasten 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 1,565,088 US residents.
Is Kasten a common name?
We classify Kasten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 221 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kasten most popular?
The single biggest year for Kasten was 2012, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kasten is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kasten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 222 people with the name Kasten, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,960 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 Kasten 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 Kasten?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kasten leans strongly male. 186 people counted with this name were male (83.4%), compared with 37 female bearers (16.6%). 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 Kasten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kasten is White at 74.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.6%) and Black (5.4%). 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 Kasten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kasten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.8% (166 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 Kasten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kasten a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kasten 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 Kasten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kasten 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 Kasten 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 share the name Kasten?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.