Thorvald
Ruler of the host or valiant ruler, from Old Norse roots.
Name Census estimates that about 3 living Americans carry the first name Thorvald. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thorvald today is around 112 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thorvald births was 1916 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thorvald. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Thorvald is about 112 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Thorvalds were born before 1924.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Thorvald. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
3
~ 1 in 114,251,446 Americans
Peak year
1916
14 babies that year
Average age
112
years old
1932 SSA rank
#3,743
Tracked since 1888
Census
Thorvald in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 100 people with the first name Thorvald, which placed it at #53,336 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
#53,336
National first-name rank
People counted
100
100 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Thorvald
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thorvald is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Thorvald 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 Thorvald at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.0% · 85
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 7
- Two or more races6.0% · 6
- Black or African American2.0% · 2
Popularity
Thorvald: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Thorvald from the 1880s through to the 1930s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 55 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Thorvald 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 Thorvald during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Thorvalds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Thorvald
The name Thorvald originated in Old Norse, the language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the Viking Age, roughly from the 8th to the 11th centuries. It is a compound name derived from the elements "þórr," meaning "thunder," and "valdr," meaning "ruler" or "wielder." Thus, Thorvald can be interpreted as "the ruler of thunder" or "the wielder of thunder."
The name Thorvald was particularly prevalent in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Iceland during the Viking era. It was a strong and powerful name, reflecting the Norse gods and their association with nature's forces. The name's connection to Thor, the god of thunder, made it a popular choice among the Norse people, who revered the gods of their pagan religion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Thorvald appears in the Icelandic sagas, which are historical narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the Saga of Erik the Red, Thorvald Eiriksson is depicted as the son of Erik the Red, the famous Norse explorer who established the first European settlement in Greenland. Thorvald Eiriksson himself is credited with being the first European to set foot in continental North America, around the year 1003, predating Christopher Columbus by nearly 500 years.
Another notable figure bearing the name Thorvald was Thorvald Kodransson, a Norwegian Viking chieftain who lived in the late 10th century. He is mentioned in the Heimskringla, a collection of sagas written by the Icelandic scholar Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Thorvald Kodransson was a powerful leader and played a significant role in the conflicts between the Norwegian kings and the Earls of Lade.
In the 12th century, Thorvald Gissurarson was an influential Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker, responsible for reciting and interpreting the laws of the Icelandic Commonwealth at the Althing, the nation's governing assembly. His legacy as a lawspeaker and his involvement in the ecclesiastical reforms of his time have been recorded in various Icelandic sources.
During the 13th century, Thorvald Thordsson was a prominent Icelandic lawman and chieftain. He is mentioned in the Sturlunga saga, a collection of sagas describing events in Iceland during the period of civil strife known as the Sturlung Age. Thorvald Thordsson played a key role in the power struggles and conflicts between the influential families of the time.
Throughout the centuries, the name Thorvald has been carried by numerous individuals, reflecting its historical significance and cultural roots in the Norse tradition. While its popularity may have waxed and waned over time, the name continues to evoke the spirit of the Viking Age and the heroic figures associated with it.
People
Thorvald + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thorvald 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
Thorvald: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thorvald?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thorvald 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 114,251,446 US residents.
Is Thorvald a common name?
We classify Thorvald as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 114 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thorvald most popular?
The single biggest year for Thorvald was 1916, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thorvald is about 112 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Thorvald in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 100 people with the name Thorvald, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,336 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 Thorvald 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 Thorvald?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Thorvald appears almost entirely male. Of the 99 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Thorvald?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Thorvald is White at 85.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and Two or More Races (6.0%). 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 Thorvald most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Thorvald in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.0% (85 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 Thorvald in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thorvald a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thorvald 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 Thorvald still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thorvald 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 Thorvald 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 common is the name Thorvald?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.