Vartan
An Armenian name meaning "rose" or "given rose".
Name Census estimates that about 169 living Americans carry the first name Vartan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vartan today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vartan births was 1988 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vartan. 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
169
~ 1 in 2,028,132 Americans
Peak year
1988
10 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,990
Tracked since 1927
Census
Vartan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 963 people with the first name Vartan, which placed it at #12,787 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
#12,787
National first-name rank
People counted
963
963 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
95.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vartan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vartan is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Vartan 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 Vartan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White95.7% · 922
- Two or more races1.7% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 14
- Black or African American0.7% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 4
Popularity
Vartan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vartan from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 58 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Vartan remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vartan 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 Vartan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vartans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vartan
The name Vartan has its origins in the Armenian language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Armenian word "vart," meaning "rose," and the suffix "-an," which indicates possession or association. Thus, the name Vartan can be translated as "one belonging to the rose" or "rose-bearer."
In Armenian mythology, the rose holds significant symbolic value, often representing beauty, love, and purity. The name Vartan may have been bestowed upon individuals who embodied these qualities or were associated with rose cultivation or appreciation.
One of the earliest and most renowned figures bearing the name Vartan was Vartan Mamikonian, an Armenian military leader and hero who lived in the 5th century AD. He led the Armenian forces against the Sassanid Persians in the Battle of Avarayr in 451 AD, fighting for the preservation of Armenian Christianity and autonomy. Although the battle ended in defeat, Vartan Mamikonian became a symbol of Armenian national pride and resistance.
Another notable historical figure with the name Vartan was Vartan Pasha, an Armenian statesman and military leader who lived in the late 19th century. He served as the Minister of War in the Ottoman Empire and played a crucial role in modernizing the Ottoman military.
In the realm of literature, Vartan Achemian was a prominent Armenian writer and poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His works explored themes of Armenian identity, culture, and the struggles of the Armenian people.
Vartan Gregorian, born in 1934, is a renowned academic and educator of Armenian descent. He served as the president of Brown University from 1989 to 1997 and has made significant contributions to higher education and the Armenian diaspora community.
Vartan Oskanian, born in 1955, is a former Armenian diplomat and politician who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia from 1998 to 2008, playing a crucial role in shaping Armenia's foreign policy during a critical period in its modern history.
The name Vartan has maintained its popularity among Armenians throughout history, serving as a testament to the enduring cultural and historical significance of this ancient name.
People
Vartan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vartan 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
Vartan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vartan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 169 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vartan 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 2,028,132 US residents.
Is Vartan a common name?
We classify Vartan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 180 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vartan most popular?
The single biggest year for Vartan was 1988, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vartan is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vartan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 963 people with the name Vartan, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,787 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 Vartan 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 Vartan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vartan appears almost entirely male. Of the 958 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Vartan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vartan is White at 95.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.7%) and Hispanic (1.5%). 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 Vartan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vartan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (922 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 Vartan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vartan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vartan 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 Vartan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vartan 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 Vartan 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 are named Vartan?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.