Renn
A unisex name possibly derived from the Old English word "ren" meaning journey.
Name Census estimates that about 569 living Americans carry the first name Renn. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 59.2% of registrations being male. The average person named Renn today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Renn births was 2023 (62 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Renn. 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 Renn with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
569
~ 1 in 602,380 Americans
Peak year
2023
62 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,186
Tracked since 1936
Census
Renn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 542 people with the first name Renn, which placed it at #19,479 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
#19,479
National first-name rank
People counted
542
542 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Renn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Renn is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Renn 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 Renn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.2% · 424
- Two or more races6.8% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.5% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 27
- Black or African American3.9% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Renn
Renn is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 581 total registrations, 344 (59.2%) were male and 237 (40.8%) were female.
Renn as a male name
- Ranked #5,186 in 2024
- 19 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (20 births)
Renn as a female name
- Ranked #5,247 in 2024
- 25 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (42 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Renn on both sides of the split. Of the 542 people counted with this name, 352 were male (64.9%) and 190 were female (35.1%).
Popularity
Renn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Renn from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 228 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Renn 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 Renn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Renns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Renn
The name Renn is believed to have its origins in the Germanic languages. It is thought to be derived from the Old High German word "rennen," which means "to run" or "to move swiftly." This suggests that the name may have initially been used to describe someone who was known for their speed or agility.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Renn can be found in the Codex Augiensis, a 9th-century manuscript that contains a list of personal names from that period. This suggests that the name was in use during the early medieval period, at least in certain parts of Europe.
In the 11th century, the name appears in the Domesday Book, a record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. This indicates that the name had spread to Britain by that time and was being used by members of the nobility or upper classes.
One notable historical figure with the name Renn was Renn Dickson Hampden (1793-1868), a British politician and member of parliament. He served as the Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire from 1832 to 1835 and was known for his support of parliamentary reform.
Another individual of note was Renn Tooley (1837-1900), an American businessman and banker. He co-founded the First National Bank of Redlands in California and played a significant role in the development of the citrus industry in the region.
In the realm of literature, Renn Zaphiropoulos (1902-1982) was a Greek writer and poet. He was a prominent figure in the Greek literary scene and was known for his contributions to the modernist movement in Greek literature.
Renn Hampden (1793-1868), a British politician and member of parliament, served as the Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire from 1832 to 1835 and was known for his support of parliamentary reform.
Renn Tooley (1837-1900), an American businessman and banker, co-founded the First National Bank of Redlands in California and played a significant role in the development of the citrus industry in the region.
People
Renn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Renn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Renn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Renn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 569 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Renn 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 602,380 US residents.
Is Renn a common name?
We classify Renn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 581 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Renn most popular?
The single biggest year for Renn was 2023, when 62 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Renn is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Renn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 542 people with the name Renn, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,479 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 Renn 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 Renn?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Renn on both sides of the split. Of the 542 people counted with this name, 352 were male (64.9%) and 190 were female (35.1%). 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 Renn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Renn is White at 78.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Renn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Renn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.2% (424 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 Renn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Renn a male name?
Yes, 59.2% of people registered as Renn 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 Renn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Renn 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 Renn 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 Renn?
Want to know how many people have the name Renn? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.