Roben
A feminine name of German origin meaning "famous for glory".
Name Census estimates that about 368 living Americans carry the first name Roben. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Roben today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Roben births was 1961 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Roben. 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 Roben with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
368
~ 1 in 931,398 Americans
Peak year
1961
30 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2010 SSA rank
#11,891
Tracked since 1952
Census
Roben in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 737 people with the first name Roben, which placed it at #15,570 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
#15,570
National first-name rank
People counted
737
737 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Roben
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roben is White at 60.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.9%) and Black (14.9%). 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 Roben 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 Roben at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.5% · 446
- Hispanic or Latino15.9% · 117
- Black or African American14.9% · 110
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 35
- Two or more races3.0% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Roben
Roben is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 444 total registrations, 130 (29.3%) were male and 314 (70.7%) were female.
Roben as a male name
- Ranked #11,891 in 2010
- 6 male births in 2010
- Peak: 1965 (14 births)
Roben as a female name
- Ranked #14,634 in 2000
- 6 female births in 2000
- Peak: 1961 (21 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Roben on both sides of the split. Of the 741 people counted with this name, 379 were male (51.1%) and 362 were female (48.9%).
Popularity
Roben: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Roben from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 196 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Roben 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 Roben during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Robens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Roben
The given name Roben is believed to have originated from the Dutch language, with its roots tracing back to the medieval period. The name is a variant of the more common name Robert, which is derived from the Germanic elements "hrod" meaning "fame" and "berht" meaning "bright."
In the Netherlands, the name Roben was often used as a shortened form of Robert, particularly among the working-class and rural communities. However, it eventually gained recognition as a distinct name in its own right, with its unique spelling and pronunciation.
While there are no definitive historical records of the name Roben appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that it was used as a colloquial variant of Robert in certain regions of the Netherlands during the medieval period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Roben can be found in the Dutch census records from the late 16th century, where it appears as a given name for several individuals living in various towns and villages across the country.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Roben, although it has never been as widely popular as its parent name, Robert. One such individual was Roben van der Jagt (1564-1638), a Dutch painter and engraver known for his landscape and architectural works.
Another noteworthy figure was Roben Huizinga (1672-1747), a Dutch philosopher and theologian who wrote extensively on the intersection of religion and reason. His most famous work, "The Reconciliation of Reason and Faith," was widely influential in its time.
In the 19th century, Roben Duvall (1815-1892), a Dutch-American entrepreneur and industrialist, made a name for himself in the emerging steel industry of the United States. He founded the Duvall Steel Company, which played a significant role in the industrialization of the country.
Moving into the 20th century, Roben Koolhaas (1944-present), a renowned Dutch architect and urbanist, has left an indelible mark on the world of architecture with his innovative and unconventional designs. He is best known for projects such as the Seattle Central Library and the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing.
Finally, Roben Rijnders (1969-present), a Dutch actor and director, has achieved recognition for his work in both film and theater. He has starred in several critically acclaimed Dutch productions and has also directed various plays and movies.
People
Roben + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Roben 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
Roben: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Roben?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 368 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Roben 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 931,398 US residents.
Is Roben a common name?
We classify Roben as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 444 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Roben most popular?
The single biggest year for Roben was 1961, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Roben is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Roben in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 737 people with the name Roben, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,570 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 Roben 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 Roben?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Roben on both sides of the split. Of the 741 people counted with this name, 379 were male (51.1%) and 362 were female (48.9%). 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 Roben?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Roben is White at 60.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.9%) and Black (14.9%). 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 Roben most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Roben in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.5% (446 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 Roben in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Roben a female name?
Yes, 70.7% of people registered as Roben 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 Roben still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Roben 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 Roben 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 Roben as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.