Sven
A Scandinavian masculine name from an Old Norse word meaning "youth" or "young man".
Name Census estimates that about 2,118 living Americans carry the first name Sven. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Sven today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sven births was 2015 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sven. 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 Sven with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 161,829 Americans
Peak year
2015
58 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,620
Tracked since 1911
Census
Sven in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,975 people with the first name Sven, which placed it at #5,679 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
#5,679
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,975 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sven
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sven is White at 84.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Sven 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 Sven at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.5% · 2,515
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 162
- Two or more races4.5% · 133
- Black or African American2.8% · 84
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 64
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 17
Popularity
Sven: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sven from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 417 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sven remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sven 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 Sven during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Svens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, New York, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Sven, while Oregon, New Jersey, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Sven
The name Sven is a masculine Scandinavian name that originated in Old Norse. It is derived from the Old Norse word "svenr," which means "young man" or "servant." The name came into use during the Viking Age, around the 8th to 11th centuries, and was popular among the Vikings and other Norse peoples.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Sven can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which were written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas often featured characters with the name Sven, indicating its widespread use in the Norse culture during that time.
In the 11th century, Sven Forkbeard, also known as Sven I, was the King of Denmark, England, and Norway. He ruled from 986 to 1014 and was known for his military campaigns and conquests. Another notable historical figure with the name Sven was Sven Estridsen, who was the King of Denmark from 1047 to 1076.
During the Middle Ages, the name Sven continued to be popular in Scandinavia. In the 12th century, Sven Aggesen was a Danish historian and author who wrote about the history of Denmark and its kings. In the 13th century, Sven Danasum was a Swedish statesman and jarl (earl) who played a significant role in the political affairs of Sweden.
As the name Sven spread beyond Scandinavia, it gained popularity in other parts of Europe. In the 19th century, Sven Nilsson was a Swedish archaeologist and naturalist known for his contributions to the study of prehistoric Scandinavia. Sven Hedin, born in 1865, was a Swedish explorer and geographer who made significant contributions to the exploration of Central Asia.
Throughout history, the name Sven has been associated with various professions and accomplishments. From Norse warriors and kings to scholars, explorers, and writers, the name has left its mark on different cultures and societies.
People
Sven + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sven 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
Sven: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sven?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,118 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sven 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 161,829 US residents.
Is Sven a common name?
We classify Sven as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,484 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sven most popular?
The single biggest year for Sven was 2015, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sven is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sven in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,975 people with the name Sven, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,679 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 Sven 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 Sven?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sven appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,970 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Sven?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sven is White at 84.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.5%). 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 Sven most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sven in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.5% (2,515 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 Sven in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sven a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sven 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 Sven still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sven 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 Sven 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 Sven as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.