Presten
A masculine name derived from the English word "priest", often given to convey a religious or spiritual meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 593 living Americans carry the first name Presten. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Presten today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Presten births was 2008 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Presten. 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 Presten with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
593
~ 1 in 578,001 Americans
Peak year
2008
42 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,529
Tracked since 1990
Census
Presten in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 503 people with the first name Presten, which placed it at #20,514 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
#20,514
National first-name rank
People counted
503
503 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Presten
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Presten is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Presten 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 Presten at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.4% · 359
- Hispanic or Latino10.1% · 51
- Two or more races8.3% · 42
- Black or African American6.6% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 6
Popularity
Presten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Presten from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 308 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Presten 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 Presten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Prestens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Presten
The name Presten is believed to have originated in the ancient Germanic languages. Its roots can be traced back to the Proto-Germanic word "prestan," which means "to excel" or "to be outstanding." This suggests that the name was initially given to individuals who exhibited exceptional qualities or achievements.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Presten was primarily found in regions inhabited by Germanic tribes, such as present-day Germany, the Netherlands, and parts of Scandinavia. It was often used as a given name or as part of a compound name, such as Prestenbold or Prestenhild.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Presten can be found in the "Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae," a collection of historical documents from the Kingdom of Saxony dating back to the 9th century. In this text, a nobleman named Presten is mentioned as a witness to a land transaction.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Presten. In the 11th century, Presten von Bremerhaven was a renowned merchant and shipbuilder from the city of Bremerhaven in northern Germany. His innovative ship designs and trade routes helped establish Bremerhaven as a major maritime center.
In the 14th century, Presten Lindelöf was a Swedish scholar and theologian who made significant contributions to the translation of religious texts into the Swedish language. His work helped to promote literacy and the spread of Christianity in Scandinavia.
During the Renaissance period, Presten Erasmus (1467-1536) was a Dutch philosopher and humanist scholar. He is best known for his critical editions of classical texts and his influential writings on religious reform, which inspired the Protestant Reformation.
In the 19th century, Presten Bjerregaard (1824-1892) was a prominent Norwegian politician and writer. He served as the Prime Minister of Norway from 1876 to 1888 and played a crucial role in the country's push for independence from Sweden.
Another notable figure was Presten Hartmann (1901-1967), a German-American physicist and inventor. He made significant contributions to the development of radar technology during World War II and held numerous patents in the field of electronics and telecommunications.
While the name Presten has fallen out of common use in recent times, its rich historical background and associations with achievement and excellence continue to make it a unique and intriguing choice for parents seeking a name with a meaningful heritage.
People
Presten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Presten as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Presten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Presten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 593 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Presten 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 578,001 US residents.
Is Presten a common name?
We classify Presten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 600 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Presten most popular?
The single biggest year for Presten was 2008, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Presten is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Presten in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 503 people with the name Presten, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,514 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 Presten 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 Presten?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Presten leans strongly male. 487 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 9 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Presten?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Presten is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.1%) and Two or More Races (8.3%). 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 Presten most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Presten in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.4% (359 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 Presten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Presten a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Presten 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 Presten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Presten 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 Presten 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 Americans are named Presten?
Want to know how many people have the name Presten? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.