Von
A German masculine name meaning "from a high rank or nobility."
Name Census estimates that about 4,240 living Americans carry the first name Von. It is a predominantly male name (92.3% of registrations). The average person named Von today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Von births was 1958 (135 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Von. 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
4.2K
~ 1 in 80,838 Americans
Peak year
1958
135 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,003
Tracked since 1898
Census
Von in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,435 people with the first name Von, which placed it at #4,288 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
#4,288
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,435 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Von
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Von is White at 56.1%. The next largest groups are Black (24.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.2%). 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 Von 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 Von at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.1% · 2,489
- Black or African American24.0% · 1,066
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.2% · 409
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 244
- Two or more races4.2% · 187
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 40
Gender
Gender distribution for Von
Von leans heavily male at 92.3% of total registrations, but 459 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Von as a male name
- Ranked #2,003 in 2024
- 77 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1958 (118 births)
Von as a female name
- Ranked #15,790 in 2017
- 6 female births in 2017
- Peak: 1958 (17 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Von leans strongly male. 3,814 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 626 female bearers (14.1%).
Popularity
Von: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Von from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 973 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Von remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Von 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 Von during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Texas, Utah recorded the most babies named Von, while New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 49 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Von
The given name Von has its origins in the Germanic languages, specifically in Old German and Old Norse. It is derived from the word "fon," which means "from" or "of." This prefix was commonly used in the medieval period to denote nobility or aristocratic lineage, indicating that the person bearing the name was "from" a particular family or region.
Von is believed to have first appeared as a name component in the 9th century, during the Carolingian dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire. At that time, it was used as a designation of social status and lineage, often preceding the name of a family estate or place of origin. For instance, the name "Von Rothenburg" would indicate that the person was from the noble family associated with the town of Rothenburg.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Von can be found in the Nibelungenlied, a renowned German epic poem from the 13th century. The poem features several characters with the prefix Von, such as Von Tronje and Von Metz, reflecting the widespread use of this naming convention among the nobility of that era.
Throughout history, there have been numerous notable individuals who bore the name Von as part of their given name or title. One of the most famous was Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), the celebrated Prussian statesman who was instrumental in the unification of Germany and served as its first Chancellor.
Another prominent figure was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), widely regarded as one of the greatest writers and intellectuals of the German Romantic era. His literary masterpieces, including Faust and The Sorrows of Young Werther, continue to be celebrated worldwide.
In the realm of music, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), the renowned German composer and pianist, is often referred to by his middle name Von, though it was not officially part of his given name. His contributions to classical music are immeasurable, with works such as his Fifth Symphony and Moonlight Sonata becoming iconic masterpieces.
The name Von also has a strong association with the military and political leadership of Germany. One example is Manfred von Richthofen (1892-1918), better known as the "Red Baron," a famous German fighter pilot during World War I who achieved 80 air combat victories before being shot down.
Another notable figure was Claus von Stauffenberg (1907-1944), a German army officer who was a central figure in the July 20th plot, a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime during World War II.
While the name Von has a rich historical significance, particularly in the context of Germanic nobility and lineage, its usage as a given name has become less common in modern times. However, its legacy remains deeply ingrained in the cultural and historical fabric of Germany and other Germanic-speaking regions.
People
Von + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Von 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
Von: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Von?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,240 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Von 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 80,838 US residents.
Is Von a common name?
We classify Von as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,940 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Von most popular?
The single biggest year for Von was 1958, when 135 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Von is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Von in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,435 people with the name Von, or 1.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,288 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 Von 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 Von?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Von leans strongly male. 3,814 people counted with this name were male (85.9%), compared with 626 female bearers (14.1%). 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 Von?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Von is White at 56.1%. The next largest groups are Black (24.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (9.2%). 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 Von most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Von in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.1% (2,489 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 Von in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Von a male name?
Yes, 92.3% of people registered as Von 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 Von still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Von 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 Von 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 Von?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Von on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.