Talen
From a Welsh origin, meaning "brow of a hill".
Name Census estimates that about 1,981 living Americans carry the first name Talen. It is a predominantly male name (97.8% of registrations). The average person named Talen today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Talen births was 2006 (223 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Talen. 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 Talen with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Talen is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,021 Americans
Peak year
2006
223 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,502
Tracked since 1982
Census
Talen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,791 people with the first name Talen, which placed it at #8,160 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
#8,160
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,791 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Talen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talen is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Talen 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 Talen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.2% · 1,239
- Black or African American10.7% · 192
- Two or more races7.7% · 138
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 126
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 66
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 30
Gender
Gender distribution for Talen
Talen leans heavily male at 97.8% of total registrations, but 44 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Talen as a male name
- Ranked #3,502 in 2024
- 33 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2006 (216 births)
Talen as a female name
- Ranked #14,412 in 2014
- 7 female births in 2014
- Peak: 1997 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talen leans strongly male. 1,684 people counted with this name were male (94.2%), compared with 103 female bearers (5.8%).
Popularity
Talen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Talen from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 939 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
Talen 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 Talen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Talens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Talen, while Oklahoma, North Carolina, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Talen
The name Talen finds its origins in the ancient Celtic language, with roots dating back to the 5th century BCE. It is believed to be derived from the word "talon," which translates to "brow" or "summit," symbolizing strength, determination, and a lofty spirit.
During the Roman occupation of Britain and Gaul, the name gained popularity among the Celtic tribes inhabiting these regions. It was often bestowed upon warriors and chieftains who displayed exceptional bravery and leadership qualities on the battlefield.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Talen can be found in the ancient Welsh epic poem, "The Gododdin," composed around the late 6th century CE. The poem commemorates the heroic deeds of a British prince named Talen who valiantly fought against the invading Saxons.
In the 9th century CE, the name appears in the Irish Annals, where Talen mac Conchobair is mentioned as a renowned scholar and scribe who contributed significantly to the preservation of ancient Celtic literature and mythology.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Talen remained prevalent among the noble families of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Talen ap Rhys (1135-1203) was a Welsh prince and military commander who played a pivotal role in the conflicts against the Anglo-Normans, earning him a reputation as a fearless warrior.
Another notable figure was Talen O'Donnell (1541-1590), an Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Donnell clan during the Tudor conquest of Ireland. He is celebrated for his unwavering resistance against the English forces and his efforts to preserve the traditional Gaelic way of life.
In the 17th century, Talen Beaton (1610-1678) was a Scottish poet and political activist who championed the rights of the Highland clans and advocated for Scottish independence from English rule.
As the name transcended geographical boundaries, it found its way into other cultures and languages. Talen Skarsgård (1856-1920) was a renowned Swedish actor and director who helped establish the foundations of modern Swedish theater.
In more recent times, Talen Horton-Tucker (born 1996) is an American professional basketball player currently playing for the Utah Jazz in the NBA, showcasing the enduring legacy and adaptability of this ancient Celtic name.
People
Talen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Talen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Talen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Talen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,981 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Talen 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 173,021 US residents.
Is Talen a common name?
We classify Talen as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,004 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Talen most popular?
The single biggest year for Talen was 2006, when 223 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Talen is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Talen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,791 people with the name Talen, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,160 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 Talen 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 Talen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Talen leans strongly male. 1,684 people counted with this name were male (94.2%), compared with 103 female bearers (5.8%). 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 Talen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Talen is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Black (10.7%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). 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 Talen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Talen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.2% (1,239 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 Talen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Talen a male name?
Yes, 97.8% of people registered as Talen 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 Talen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Talen 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 Talen 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 the name Talen?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.