Vanburen
Of Dutch origin, meaning "from a place with a burner's dwelling".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Vanburen. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vanburen today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vanburen births was 1917 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vanburen. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Vanburen. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1917
7 babies that year
Average age
-
1927 SSA rank
#4,753
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Vanburen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vanburen from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 13 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Vanburen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vanburen 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 Vanburen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vanburen
The name Vanburen has its origins in the Dutch language and culture, tracing back to the 17th century. It is believed to be derived from the Dutch phrase "van Buren," which translates to "from the houses" or "from the farmsteads." This suggests that the name may have initially been used to identify individuals who hailed from a particular village or settlement.
During the Dutch Golden Age, the name Vanburen gained prominence as the Netherlands established a global maritime empire. Sailors and traders bearing this name ventured to far-flung regions, contributing to the spread of Dutch influence and culture across various continents.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Vanburen can be found in the annals of the Dutch East India Company, where a merchant named Pieter Vanburen is mentioned as having conducted trade in the Spice Islands in the early 1600s. Unfortunately, precise details about his life and exploits remain elusive.
In the realm of politics and statesmanship, the name Vanburen is etched into the history of the United States. Martin Vanburen (1782-1862) served as the eighth President of the United States from 1837 to 1841. Hailing from Kinderhook, New York, he was a prominent figure in the Democratic Party and played a pivotal role in shaping the nation's political landscape during the Jacksonian era.
Another notable figure bearing the name Vanburen was Willem Vanburen (1661-1718), a Dutch Golden Age painter renowned for his exquisite still-life compositions. His works, featuring meticulously rendered arrangements of fruits, flowers, and objects, were highly coveted by the wealthy patrons of his time and continue to be admired in art galleries worldwide.
In the literary sphere, the name Vanburen graced the pages of the 19th-century novel "The Pioneers" by James Fenimore Cooper. One of the characters, Jedediah Vanburen, was a hunter and guide who accompanied the protagonist, Natty Bumppo, on his adventures in the American wilderness. This fictional representation contributed to the name's association with the rugged frontier spirit of early America.
Further back in history, there are records of a Flemish soldier named Jan Vanburen who fought valiantly in the Eighty Years' War against Spanish rule in the late 16th century. His bravery and loyalty to the Dutch cause earned him recognition, and his name was inscribed in the chronicles of that pivotal conflict.
Throughout the centuries, the name Vanburen has been carried by individuals from diverse walks of life, including artists, entrepreneurs, scholars, and explorers. While their stories may be lost to time, their collective contributions have woven the name into the tapestry of history, underscoring its enduring legacy.
People
Vanburen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vanburen 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
Vanburen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vanburen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vanburen 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 - US residents.
Is Vanburen a common name?
We classify Vanburen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vanburen most popular?
The single biggest year for Vanburen was 1917, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vanburen is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Vanburen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vanburen a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vanburen 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 Vanburen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vanburen 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 Vanburen 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Vanburen?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Vanburen at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.