Oden
Masculine Japanese name literally meaning "great protector" or "leading rice planter".
Name Census estimates that about 1,323 living Americans carry the first name Oden. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oden today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oden births was 2022 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oden. 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 Oden with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Oden is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 259,074 Americans
Peak year
2022
102 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,221
Tracked since 1912
Census
Oden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,026 people with the first name Oden, which placed it at #12,209 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
#12,209
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,026 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Oden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oden is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.4%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Oden 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 Oden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.6% · 735
- Hispanic or Latino13.4% · 137
- Two or more races7.3% · 75
- Black or African American4.1% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 14
Popularity
Oden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oden from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 653 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Oden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oden 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 Oden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Odens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Texas, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Oden, while Oregon, Illinois, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oden
The given name Oden has its origins in Old Norse, the language spoken by the Vikings and other Scandinavian peoples in the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old Norse word "óðinn," which was the name of the supreme deity in Norse mythology. Óðinn was the god of war, wisdom, poetry, and magic in the Norse pantheon.
The name Oden is closely associated with Norse mythology and the rich storytelling traditions of the Vikings. It is believed to have emerged as a personal name in the Viking Age, between the late 8th and the late 11th centuries. Oden was a revered figure in Norse culture, and it is likely that parents chose to name their sons after him as a way to imbue them with the god's qualities of strength, intelligence, and leadership.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Oden can be found in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems compiled in the 13th century. The Edda contains numerous references to Óðinn and his exploits, solidifying his importance in Norse mythology and demonstrating the prevalence of his name among the Scandinavian peoples.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Oden. One of the most famous was Oden, King of Sweden, who ruled from around 680 to 700 AD. He is regarded as a semi-legendary figure, and his reign is often associated with the Christianization of Sweden.
Another notable Oden was Oden of Saxony (1070-1137), a German nobleman and warrior who fought alongside Emperor Henry V during the Investiture Controversy, a power struggle between the Holy Roman Emperor and the Pope over the right to appoint bishops and abbots.
In the realm of literature, Oden was the name of a character in the epic poem "Beowulf," one of the most important works of Old English literature. Oden was a Danish warrior who fought alongside the hero Beowulf in his battles against monsters and dragons.
In the field of exploration, Oden was the name of a Norwegian explorer and whaler who led several expeditions to the Arctic regions in the late 19th century. Oden Jørgensen (1834-1901) is known for his contributions to the mapping and exploration of the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
Lastly, Oden was the given name of Oden Salomonsen (1919-2006), a Danish artist and sculptor renowned for his abstract and modernist works. His sculptures and installations can be found in various public spaces throughout Denmark and other parts of Europe.
People
Oden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Oden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,323 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oden 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 259,074 US residents.
Is Oden a common name?
We classify Oden as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,499 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oden most popular?
The single biggest year for Oden was 2022, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oden is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Oden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,026 people with the name Oden, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,209 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 Oden 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 Oden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Oden leans strongly male. 1,008 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 12 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Oden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Oden is White at 71.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.4%) and Two or More Races (7.3%). 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 Oden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Oden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.6% (735 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 Oden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Oden a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oden 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 Oden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Oden 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 Oden 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 have the name Oden?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.