Alden
Masculine · “Most often read as "old friend”
Alden is given to both — 18,221 boys and 952 girls since 1880. See Alden as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Alden began as an Old English personal name, passed into use as a surname, and then came back around as a first name — a journey it made without ever changing much in the mouth. It has two clean syllables and a spelling that gives up its sound on first sight. English speakers have been saying some version of it for well over a thousand years.
How old is the name Alden?
Alden was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Alden alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 13,000 people named Alden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Alden most popular?
Alden peaked in 1911, reaching #426 nationally. Today it ranks #598, 172 places below that high. See the whole 1911 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ealdwine to Alden
The story of Alden
Ealdwine was an ordinary Old English name before the Norman Conquest, and like most such names it faded as a given name while surviving stubbornly as a surname — Aldwin, Alwin, Alden. It crossed the Atlantic early: John Alden sailed on the Mayflower in 1620, and Longfellow put him at the center of "The Courtship of Miles Standish" in 1858, which kept the surname in American schoolbooks for generations. Like many New England surnames, it then made the move to the front of the name, which is where American parents have used it ever since. Its strongest showing today is in the West rather than the region it started from.
Meaningscholars disagree
Most often read as "old friend"
The leading reading traces Alden to the Old English name Ealdwine, from eald "old" and wine "friend." Alden also arose as a surname in other ways: from place names in northern England, and as an English reworking of the Old Norse name Halfdan. All three roads end at the same modern spelling, so which one a given family's Alden came down is usually unrecoverable.
How the name formed
- Ealdwine
- Aldwin
- Alden
Related forms: Ealdwine · Aldwin · Alwin · Elden
Pronouncing Alden
AWL-den
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some families say it with the flat vowel of "Al" instead; both are heard and neither needs correcting.
Nicknames for Alden
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2025479 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #426reached in 1911
- Change vs 2022
- +7.6%479 in 2025, from 445
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Alden in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ealdwine in Old English — same name
- Aldwin in English — related form
- Alwin in German — related form
- Elden in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Washington.
Aldens among us
people named Alden are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 3,566 born in 2025 was named Alden
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Alden sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Alden is headed
Alden should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Alden beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Alden in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelling and sound match: people who see it can say it, and people who hear it can usually spell it.
- A documented English name line reaching back to Old English Ealdwine, with unbroken use as a surname in between.
- Present in American records across every generation on the chart beside this, without ever crowding a classroom.
- Al is a ready-made short form with a long history of its own, if a short form is wanted.
- It sits one consonant away from Aiden, Aidan and Alton — all far more common. Expect to repeat it on the phone and to see it written back to you wrong now and then.
- Elden and Aldon are live alternative spellings, so the name will occasionally be guessed rather than known.
- As a surname-turned-first-name, it can read as a last name to some ears — fine in the US, where that path is well worn, but worth knowing.
- A child with this name will likely be the only one in the room with it, which some children enjoy and others tire of explaining.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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Alden
Masculine · #598 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Aldens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 13,000 people named Alden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Alden in 2025?
- Alden ranks #598 among US boy names in 2025, with 479 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Alden?
- About 1 in every 3,566 US boys born in 2025 was named Alden — 479 in all.
- Will my child share the name Alden with classmates?
- Alden will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Alden
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kolter#599 · Kason#597 · Krew#599 · Jonas#599 · Louie#596 · Mohammed#595 · Caiden#602 · Reese#602
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Alden? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Alden and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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