Auden
Masculine · “old friend”
Auden is given to both — 1,887 boys and 1,001 girls since 1880. See Auden as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Auden is an old friend in Old English — ealdwine, from eald, old, and wine, friend — and the poet who carried it is among the major English writers of the twentieth century.
How old is the name Auden?
Auden first appears in US birth records in 1975 — 50 years ago. The typical Auden is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,900 people named Auden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Auden most popular?
Auden peaked in 2020, reaching #1368 nationally. Today it ranks #1793, 425 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Auden appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From eald wine to Auden
The story of Auden
Ealdwine was a real Old English name and the wine, 'friend', element closes Edwin, Godwin and Baldwin. W. H. Auden published from 1930 and wrote some of the century's most quoted English verse. The surname entered American given-name use in the 2000s and appears in the registers in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
old friend
Usually read from the Old English Ealdwine — eald, 'old', and wine, 'friend' — which gave the surname Alden and Auden. A second route derives it from a Scandinavian personal name. The Ealdwine reading is the commoner and better documented one; wine, 'friend', is genuine Old English.
How the name formed
- eald wine
- Ealdwine
- Auden
Related forms: Alden · Audin
Pronouncing Auden
AW-dun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Said identically in every English accent.
Nicknames for Auden
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
- 1975
- Most boys named
- 2020129 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1368reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- +4.7%89 in 2025, from 85
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.
Auden in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Alden in English — related form
- Audin in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Illinois.
Audens among us
people named Auden are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 19,192 born in 2025 was named Auden
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marquese test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Auden's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marquese climbed just as high around 1991, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marquese's path sketches the road Auden is walking now.
Auden 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 Auden is headed
Auden should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Auden beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Auden in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The old-friend meaning is transparent and unusually warm.
- A major twentieth-century poet carries the surname.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The origin is somewhat split, though the Ealdwine reading is stronger.
- It is thoroughly unisex in current American use.
- It reads as a surname before it reads as a given name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Auden to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Auden? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Auden
Masculine · #1793 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Audens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,900 people named Auden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Auden in 2025?
- Auden ranks #1793 among US boy names in 2025, with 89 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Auden?
- About 1 in every 19,192 US boys born in 2025 was named Auden — 89 in all.
- Will my child share the name Auden with classmates?
- Auden will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Auden
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Iman#1793 · Donnie#1793 · Kodi#1793 · Klayton#1793 · Asael#1793 · Rico#1793 · Valentine#1793 · Romari#1793
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Auden? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Auden and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle