Vallen
Of Old Norse origin, meaning "the hill" or "small hill".
Name Census estimates that about 291 living Americans carry the first name Vallen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Vallen today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vallen births was 2021 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vallen. 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
291
~ 1 in 1,177,850 Americans
Peak year
2021
31 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,857
Tracked since 1982
Census
Vallen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 306 people with the first name Vallen, which placed it at #29,088 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
#29,088
National first-name rank
People counted
306
306 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vallen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vallen is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Two or More Races (10.1%). 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 Vallen 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 Vallen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.9% · 165
- Black or African American17.0% · 52
- Two or more races10.1% · 31
- Hispanic or Latino8.8% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.9% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Vallen
Vallen is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 294 total registrations, 232 (78.9%) were male and 62 (21.1%) were female.
Vallen as a male name
- Ranked #4,857 in 2024
- 21 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (21 births)
Vallen as a female name
- Ranked #13,324 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (12 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vallen on both sides of the split. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 207 were male (68.3%) and 96 were female (31.7%).
Popularity
Vallen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vallen from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 123 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vallen 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 Vallen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vallens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vallen
The name Vallen has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically the Old Norse and Old English dialects spoken in Scandinavia and parts of what is now England and northern Germany. It is derived from the root word "val," which means "to choose" or "to select." The name itself is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, around the 9th to 11th centuries.
In Old Norse mythology, the concept of "val" was closely associated with the Valkyries, the female figures who were believed to choose the bravest warriors to join the afterlife in Valhalla. This connection suggests that the name Vallen may have been given to individuals who were considered to possess qualities of courage, strength, and valor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vallen can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of medieval Norse literature dating back to the 13th century. In the Saga of the Volsungs, a prominent figure named Vallen is mentioned as a brave warrior and companion of the legendary hero, Sigurd.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vallen. One example is Vallen Derickson (1583-1648), a Dutch explorer and navigator who played a crucial role in the early colonization efforts of the Dutch East Indies Company in present-day Indonesia.
Another historical figure with the name Vallen was Vallen Thorvaldsson (1675-1732), an Icelandic poet and scholar who made significant contributions to the preservation of Old Norse literature and folklore. His works helped to keep alive the rich cultural heritage of the Viking age.
In the realm of religious history, Vallen Eriksson (1220-1285) was a Swedish monk and theologian who served as the Bishop of Linköping during the 13th century. He was renowned for his efforts in promoting education and religious reforms within the Church.
Moving forward in time, Vallen Gustafsson (1892-1976) was a Swedish architect and urban planner who played a pivotal role in the development of modern sustainable urban design principles. His innovative ideas and designs influenced urban planning practices across Scandinavia and beyond.
Finally, Vallen Kristensen (1928-2005) was a Danish artist and sculptor known for his abstract and minimalist works. His sculptures, often crafted from natural materials like stone and wood, can be found in public spaces and galleries throughout Denmark and other European countries.
While these are just a few examples, the name Vallen has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, each leaving their mark on history in their own unique way, reflecting the essence of the name's meaning – to choose, to select, and to embody the qualities of valor and courage.
People
Vallen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vallen 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
Vallen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vallen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 291 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vallen 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 1,177,850 US residents.
Is Vallen a common name?
We classify Vallen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 294 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vallen most popular?
The single biggest year for Vallen was 2021, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vallen is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vallen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 306 people with the name Vallen, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,088 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 Vallen 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 Vallen?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vallen on both sides of the split. Of the 303 people counted with this name, 207 were male (68.3%) and 96 were female (31.7%). 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 Vallen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vallen is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (17.0%) and Two or More Races (10.1%). 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 Vallen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vallen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (165 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 Vallen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vallen a male name?
Yes, 78.9% of people registered as Vallen 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 Vallen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vallen 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 Vallen 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 Americans are named Vallen?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.