Severin
A masculine name of Latin origin meaning "stern" or "severe".
Name Census estimates that about 709 living Americans carry the first name Severin. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Severin today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Severin births was 2014 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Severin. 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 Severin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
709
~ 1 in 483,433 Americans
Peak year
2014
28 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,111
Tracked since 1908
Census
Severin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 834 people with the first name Severin, which placed it at #14,190 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
#14,190
National first-name rank
People counted
834
834 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Severin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Severin is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Severin 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 Severin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.7% · 656
- Black or African American7.6% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 52
- Two or more races5.6% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Severin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Severin from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 206 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Severin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Severin 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 Severin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Severins live
Origin
Meaning and history of Severin
The name Severin is derived from the Latin name Severinus, which itself is a derivative of the Roman family name Severus. Severus means "severe" or "strict" in Latin. The name first emerged during the Roman era.
Severin became a popular name among early Christians due to its association with Saint Severinus, a 5th-century monastic founder and apostle of Noricum (modern-day Austria). He was known for his austerity, asceticism, and charitable works.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Severin is found in the writings of Eugippius, a 6th-century monk who authored the Vita Sancti Severini (Life of Saint Severin). This text chronicled the life and miracles of Saint Severinus, further popularizing the name.
In the Middle Ages, the name Severin was widely used in various parts of Europe, particularly in Germanic and Slavic regions. It was often spelled as Severin, Severin, or Severyn.
Notable historical figures named Severin include Severin of Cologne (4th century), a Roman Catholic saint and bishop; Severin of Noricum (410-482), the aforementioned Austrian saint; Severin Eisenmenger (1552-1585), a German mathematician; Severin Roesen (1635-1708), a Dutch Golden Age painter; and Severin Navishensky (1789-1835), a Russian architect.
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the name Severin gained popularity in parts of Eastern Europe, with several notable writers, artists, and intellectuals bearing this name. These include Severin Liebhart (1835-1914), an Austrian poet; Severin Rüttgers (1876-1946), a German politician; and Severin Eismann (1891-1969), an Estonian-Swedish painter and graphic artist.
Over time, the name Severin has been used in various cultures and regions, often with slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. While its usage has waxed and waned across different periods, it has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly in regions with strong Christian and Roman influences.
People
Severin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Severin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Severin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Severin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 709 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Severin 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 483,433 US residents.
Is Severin a common name?
We classify Severin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 899 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Severin most popular?
The single biggest year for Severin was 2014, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Severin is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Severin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 834 people with the name Severin, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,190 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 Severin 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 Severin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Severin leans strongly male. 785 people counted with this name were male (93.8%), compared with 52 female bearers (6.2%). 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 Severin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Severin is White at 78.7%. The next largest groups are Black (7.6%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Severin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Severin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.7% (656 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 Severin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Severin a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Severin 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 Severin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Severin 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 Severin 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 Severin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.