Witten
A name of German origin meaning "wood" or "forest clearing".
Name Census estimates that about 1,024 living Americans carry the first name Witten. It is a predominantly male name (94.5% of registrations). The average person named Witten today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Witten births was 2018 (137 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Witten. 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
- • Witten is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 334,721 Americans
Peak year
2018
137 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,091
Tracked since 2007
Gender
Gender distribution for Witten
Witten leans heavily male at 94.5% of total registrations, but 57 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Witten as a male name
- Ranked #3,091 in 2024
- 40 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (127 births)
Witten as a female name
- Ranked #17,461 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 2021 (11 births)
Popularity
Witten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Witten from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 671 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Witten remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Witten 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 Witten during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wittens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas recorded the most babies named Witten, while Virginia, South Dakota, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Witten
The name Witten is believed to have originated in the Germanic language family, likely derived from the Old English or Old Germanic root word "wit," which means "wise" or "knowledgeable." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to individuals who were considered intelligent or learned.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Witten can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Wittene," indicating its existence during the Norman period.
In medieval times, the name Witten was occasionally bestowed upon scholars or individuals associated with religious institutions, perhaps as a reflection of their perceived wisdom or knowledge. However, specific historical references to notable individuals with this first name are relatively scarce.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Witten was Witten von Sumerau, a German nobleman and knight who lived in the 13th century. He was a prominent figure in the Livonian Crusades, which aimed to conquer and Christianize the Baltic region.
Another notable bearer of the name was Witten Frisch, a German scholar and theologian who lived in the 16th century (c. 1490-1567). He was a prominent figure in the Protestant Reformation and authored several works on religious topics.
In the 18th century, Witten Siebenhaar (1722-1799) was a German composer and organist known for his contributions to church music. His compositions were widely performed and influential during his lifetime.
Moving to more modern times, Witten Burck (1883-1962) was a German-American architect who designed several notable buildings in New York City, including the Belasco Theatre and the Lyceum Theatre.
Perhaps one of the most famous individuals with the first name Witten is Edward Witten, a renowned American theoretical physicist born in 1951. He is widely considered one of the most influential and prominent physicists of our time, having made significant contributions to various fields, including string theory and quantum field theory.
Overall, while not an extremely common name, Witten has a rich history rooted in the Germanic linguistic tradition, with notable bearers spanning various fields, from religion and scholarship to architecture and theoretical physics.
People
Witten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Witten as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Witten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Witten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,024 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Witten 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 334,721 US residents.
Is Witten a common name?
We classify Witten as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,031 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Witten most popular?
The single biggest year for Witten was 2018, when 137 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Witten is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Witten a male name?
Yes, 94.5% of people registered as Witten 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.
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.