Nadene
A feminine name derived from the Spanish "Nadine", meaning "hope".
Name Census estimates that about 825 living Americans carry the first name Nadene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nadene today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nadene births was 1930 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nadene. 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 Nadene with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
825
~ 1 in 415,460 Americans
Peak year
1930
43 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,881
Tracked since 1909
Census
Nadene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,192 people with the first name Nadene, which placed it at #10,960 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
#10,960
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nadene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nadene is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Nadene 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 Nadene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.4% · 875
- Black or African American15.4% · 183
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 65
- Two or more races3.8% · 45
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 10
Popularity
Nadene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nadene from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 350 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nadene 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 Nadene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nadenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, New York, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Nadene, while Texas, Pennsylvania, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nadene
The given name Nadene is a relatively modern and uncommon name, with its origins tracing back to the early 20th century. It is believed to be derived from the French name Nadine, which is a feminine form of the male name Nadin. Nadin itself is a variant of the name Nadav, which has Hebrew roots meaning "generous" or "noble."
While the name Nadene does not appear to have any direct historical references or mentions in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or significant historical records, its connection to the Hebrew name Nadav implies a potential association with the biblical figure of the same name, who was one of the sons of Aaron, the brother of Moses.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Nadene are from the early 1900s, though it remained relatively uncommon throughout the 20th century. One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Nadene was Nadene Walker, an American actress and dancer who was active in the 1930s and 1940s.
Other notable individuals with the first name Nadene include:
1. Nadene Caldwell (1923-2009), an American actress and dancer who appeared in several Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s.
2. Nadene Goldfoot (born 1934), an American author and educator known for her works on Jewish history and culture.
3. Nadene Chandler (born 1959), a British actress and television presenter best known for her role in the long-running soap opera "Coronation Street."
4. Nadene Goss (born 1966), a former professional tennis player from Australia who competed on the WTA Tour in the 1980s and 1990s.
5. Nadene Lomu (born 1975), a New Zealand rugby union player and the wife of the late legendary All Blacks player Jonah Lomu.
While the name Nadene has never been among the most popular given names, it has maintained a consistent presence throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century, likely due to its unique sound and connection to the more well-known name Nadine.
People
Nadene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nadene as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nadene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nadene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 825 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nadene 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 415,460 US residents.
Is Nadene a common name?
We classify Nadene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,895 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nadene most popular?
The single biggest year for Nadene was 1930, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nadene is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nadene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,192 people with the name Nadene, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,960 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 Nadene 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 Nadene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nadene appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,199 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Nadene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nadene is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (15.4%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Nadene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nadene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.4% (875 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 Nadene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nadene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nadene in the SSA data are female. 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 Nadene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nadene 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 Nadene 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 Nadene?
Find out how many Americans are named Nadene on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.