Helen Shaver
There are approximately 10 people named Helen Shaver living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 34,275,434 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Helen with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Shaver. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census demographics where available.
Expected bearers
10
1 in 34,275,434
Named Helen
180K
Alive today
Named Shaver
18K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 180K
Rarity: Common
Gender: Female
Peak year: 1918
Average age: 66
Top Census group: White (72.4%)
Estimated bearers: 18K
Rarity: Uncommon
Census rank: #2,209
Per 100K: 5.36
Top ancestry: White (87.9%)
First name trend
Helen: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Helen. The peak year was 1918 with 36,228 births. The average person named Helen today is 66 years old.
Babies born per year
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Helen
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the first name Helen, from the 2020 US Census Bureau first-name tables. The largest published group is White at 72.4%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Helen described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the name Helen at the time of the Census. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White72.4% · 203,059
- Black or African American10.9% · 30,506
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 20,077
- Hispanic or Latino7.1% · 19,961
- Two or more races1.8% · 5,012
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1,745
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Shaver surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Shaver, from the 2020 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 87.9%.
The bar chart below shows how people with the surname Shaver described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. These are self-reported numbers, and they describe the population who happened to carry the surname Shaver at the time of the Census. A surname does not determine a person's race or ethnicity.
- White87.9% · 14,099
- Two or more races4.0% · 640
- Black or African American3.6% · 579
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 537
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 95
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 85
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Helen has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0525% of the US population, based on 179,926 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
Even though the Census Bureau now publishes first-name tables, we do not use that file as the main first-name input for this estimate. The latest first-name Census snapshot is from 2020, which makes it 6 years old today. Because Census first-name data is only released once every 10 years, SSA birth records plus CDC survival rates give a better current estimate of how many people are likely alive with the name Helen right now.
The surname Shaver appears at a rate of 5.36 per 100,000 residents in the 2020 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0054%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 10 people with the full name Helen Shaver. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Helen
FAQ
Helen Shaver: questions and answers
How many people are named Helen Shaver?
We estimate approximately 10 people in the United States share the full name Helen Shaver. That works out to about 1 in 34,275,434 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0525%) with the surname frequency (5.36 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Helen Shaver?
We classify Helen Shaver as "Very Rare". About 1 in 34,275,434 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Helen a male or female name?
Helen is predominantly female. Out of 1,026,632 total SSA registrations, 0.3% were male and 99.7% were female. See the full Helen profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2020 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.
How many Americans are named Helen Shaver?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.