Vaden
A name potentially of English origin, derived from the place Vaden.
Name Census estimates that about 404 living Americans carry the first name Vaden. It is a predominantly male name (98.9% of registrations). The average person named Vaden today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vaden births was 2009 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vaden. 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
404
~ 1 in 848,402 Americans
Peak year
2009
21 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,769
Tracked since 1915
Census
Vaden in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 480 people with the first name Vaden, which placed it at #21,231 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
#21,231
National first-name rank
People counted
480
480 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vaden
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vaden is White at 73.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) and Black (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 Vaden 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 Vaden at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.5% · 353
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 38
- Black or African American7.7% · 37
- Two or more races7.1% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Vaden
Vaden leans heavily male at 98.9% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vaden as a male name
- Ranked #9,777 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (21 births)
Vaden as a female name
- Ranked #4,769 in 1918
- 6 female births in 1918
- Peak: 1918 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vaden leans strongly male. 424 people counted with this name were male (89.5%), compared with 50 female bearers (10.5%).
Popularity
Vaden: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vaden 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 131 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Vaden remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vaden 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 Vaden during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vadens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vaden
The name Vaden is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic peoples of Scandinavia during the early medieval period. It is derived from the Old Norse word "vaðr," which means "ford" or "shallow place in a river."
In ancient times, the name was likely given to individuals who lived near a ford or a shallow river crossing. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the Viking Age, when it was used by Norse settlers and explorers who ventured across Europe and beyond.
One of the earliest documented figures with the name Vaden was a Viking warrior from Norway, who lived in the 9th century. Historical records indicate that he participated in several raids and expeditions, although details about his life are scarce.
In the 11th century, a Swedish nobleman named Vaden Eriksson was a prominent figure in the court of King Inge the Elder. He served as a trusted advisor and military commander, and his name appears in several contemporary chronicles and sagas.
During the Middle Ages, the name Vaden was also found in parts of England and Scotland, likely brought there by Norse settlers and traders. In the 13th century, a Scottish nobleman named Vaden of Galloway was a prominent landowner and played a role in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
In the 16th century, a Dutch explorer named Vaden Linschoten was among the first Europeans to travel extensively in India and Southeast Asia. His accounts and maps of these regions were highly influential and contributed to the expansion of European trade and exploration.
Another notable figure with the name Vaden was a German philosopher and theologian named Vaden Jaspers, who lived in the 20th century (1883-1969). He made significant contributions to existentialism and was widely respected for his writings on ethics and the meaning of human existence.
People
Vaden + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vaden as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vaden: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vaden?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 404 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vaden 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 848,402 US residents.
Is Vaden a common name?
We classify Vaden as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 567 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vaden most popular?
The single biggest year for Vaden was 2009, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vaden is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vaden in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 480 people with the name Vaden, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,231 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 Vaden 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 Vaden?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vaden leans strongly male. 424 people counted with this name were male (89.5%), compared with 50 female bearers (10.5%). 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 Vaden?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vaden is White at 73.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) and Black (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 Vaden most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vaden in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.5% (353 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 Vaden in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vaden a male name?
Yes, 98.9% of people registered as Vaden 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 Vaden still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vaden 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 Vaden 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 Vaden?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.