Kullen
Scandinavian unisex name derived from the Old Norse word "kollr" meaning "a rounded hillock" or "round hill summit".
Name Census estimates that about 768 living Americans carry the first name Kullen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Kullen today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Kullen births was 2012 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Kullen. 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 Kullen with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
768
~ 1 in 446,295 Americans
Peak year
2012
64 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,152
Tracked since 1991
Census
Kullen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 636 people with the first name Kullen, which placed it at #17,376 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
#17,376
National first-name rank
People counted
636
636 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Kullen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kullen is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Black (6.9%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Kullen 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 Kullen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.6% · 500
- Black or African American6.9% · 44
- Two or more races6.4% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 5
Popularity
Kullen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Kullen 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 408 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Kullen 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 Kullen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Kullens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Louisiana, Texas, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Kullen, while Virginia, Mississippi, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Kullen
The given name Kullen is a Scandinavian name with its roots firmly planted in the Old Norse language. This linguistic branch traces its origins back to the early medieval period, spanning the 8th to the 11th centuries, and was spoken by the Norse people inhabiting modern-day Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and parts of Iceland.
One of the earliest documented references to the name Kullen can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of narratives that recount the lives and exploits of medieval Norsemen. The name is believed to have derived from the Old Norse word "kollr," which translates to "a rounded hill or hilltop." This connection suggests that the name may have been initially bestowed upon individuals residing in or near such geographical features.
The first recorded bearer of the name Kullen was a Danish chieftain named Kullen Halvorsson, who lived during the 10th century. Halvorsson was a prominent figure in the region and is mentioned in various historical accounts for his leadership and military prowess.
Another notable figure bearing the name Kullen was Kullen Eriksson, a Norwegian explorer and navigator who lived in the late 11th century. Eriksson is credited with leading one of the earliest recorded voyages to Greenland, paving the way for further Norse exploration and settlement in the region.
In the 13th century, a Swedish nobleman named Kullen Magnusson played a significant role in the establishment of the city of Stockholm. Magnusson was a trusted advisor to King Birger Jarl and was instrumental in the construction of the city's fortifications, which laid the foundation for Stockholm's future growth and prosperity.
During the 16th century, a Danish scholar and theologian named Kullen Christensen made his mark in the realm of academia. Christensen was a prominent figure in the Lutheran Reformation and authored several influential works that helped shape the religious landscape of the time.
Lastly, in the 19th century, a Norwegian artist named Kullen Fjeldstad gained recognition for his landscape paintings depicting the breathtaking scenery of his homeland. Fjeldstad's works captured the rugged beauty of Norway's fjords, mountains, and coastal regions, cementing his place in the country's artistic heritage.
People
Kullen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Kullen 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
Kullen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Kullen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 768 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Kullen 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 446,295 US residents.
Is Kullen a common name?
We classify Kullen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 776 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Kullen most popular?
The single biggest year for Kullen was 2012, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Kullen is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Kullen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 636 people with the name Kullen, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,376 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 Kullen 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 Kullen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Kullen leans strongly male. 626 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 11 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Kullen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Kullen is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Black (6.9%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Kullen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Kullen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.6% (500 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 Kullen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Kullen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Kullen 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 Kullen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Kullen 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 Kullen 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 common is the name Kullen?
See how many Americans are named Kullen on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.