Trajan
From ancient Roman naming tradition, meaning "from the city of Tralles".
Name Census estimates that about 777 living Americans carry the first name Trajan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Trajan today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Trajan births was 1999 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Trajan. 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.
People living today
777
~ 1 in 441,125 Americans
Peak year
1999
141 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,672
Tracked since 1994
Popularity
Trajan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Trajan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 319 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
Trajan 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 Trajan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Trajans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Trajan, while Washington, Virginia, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Trajan
The name Trajan originated from the Latin language and culture during the time of ancient Rome. The name is derived from the Roman family name Trajanus, which comes from the word "trajanus" meaning "from Trajan" or "from the Trajanic line". This family name referred to the gens Trajan, a Roman family that claimed descent from the legendary Trojan hero Tros.
The name gained historical significance due to its association with the Roman emperor Trajan, who ruled from 98 to 117 AD. He was born Marcus Ulpius Trajanus in 53 AD in the Roman province of Hispania Baetica (modern-day Spain). Trajan is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman emperors, known for his military campaigns that expanded the Roman Empire to its greatest territorial extent, as well as his administrative reforms and public building projects.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Trajan can be found in ancient Roman texts and inscriptions, particularly those related to the life and reign of Emperor Trajan himself. The name is also mentioned in historical works by Roman authors such as Pliny the Younger, who was a close friend and advisor to Trajan.
Apart from the famous emperor, other notable figures throughout history who bore the name Trajan include:
1. Trajan Decius (201-251 AD), a Roman emperor who ruled from 249 to 251 AD and is known for his persecution of Christians.
2. Trajan Priscus (fl. 6th century AD), a Byzantine historian and author of the "History of the Wars of Justinian".
3. Trajan Langušić (1481-1557), a Croatian humanist scholar and writer.
4. Trajan Vuković (1905-1981), a Serbian painter and printmaker known for his woodcuts and linocuts.
5. Trajan Laleski (1920-1993), a Macedonian writer and poet who wrote in the Macedonian language.
While the name Trajan has been used throughout history, it has been most popular and significant during the Roman era and in regions with strong cultural connections to ancient Rome, such as parts of Europe and the Mediterranean.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Trajan
People
Trajan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Trajan 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
Trajan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Trajan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 777 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Trajan 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 441,125 US residents.
Is Trajan a common name?
We classify Trajan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 787 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Trajan most popular?
The single biggest year for Trajan was 1999, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Trajan is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Trajan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Trajan 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.
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.