Talen
Masculine
Talen is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 1,982 boys against 44 girls since 1880.
Talen joins Tal to an -en ending, and Tal is a real word in Hebrew — dew, which matters in a country with no summer rain.
How old is the name Talen?
Talen first appears in US birth records in 1982 — 43 years ago. The typical Talen alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 2,000 people named Talen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Talen most popular?
Talen peaked in 2006, reaching #901 nationally. Today it ranks #4539, 3,638 places below that high. See the whole 2006 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Talen
Ours, offered as ours. The English talon has an odd history of its own: it is from Latin talus, an ankle or heel, and came through French meaning a heel or spur before it settled on a bird's claw. So the word for a hawk's grip started as a word for a human ankle. Hebrew tal, dew, is a separate and much older neighbor. Talen may draw on either or neither, and both are worth having.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source is established for the compound. Hebrew tal means dew and is a complete Israeli name. English talon, a claw, is from Latin talus, an ankle. Neither is documented as the source of this modern name.
Pronouncing Talen
TAY-len
Two syllables, first stressed. Some families say TAL-en.
Nicknames for Talen
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
- 1982
- Most boys named
- 2006216 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #901reached in 2006
- Change vs 2024
- −33.3%22 in 2025, from 33
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.
Talen in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tal in Hebrew — related form
- Talon in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, North Carolina, Texas.
Talens among us
people named Talen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 77,640 born in 2025 was named Talen
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Talen
- #4539
- Talen on the 2025 chart
- #898
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Talen went to 22 boys in 2025, but Tallen is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 30, which makes it the 898th most-given boys’ name of the year — 3,641 places above the chart.
- Talen22
- Tallen8
About 1 boy in 56,936 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 77,640 for Talen itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Rian test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Talen's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rian climbed just as high around 1979, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rian's path sketches the road Talen is walking now.
Talen 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
Talen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Talen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Tal and Len are both complete names in their own right.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- The first vowel is unsettled between TAY and TAL.
- Talen, Talon and Tallen are all in use and none is dominant.
- There is no documented meaning for the compound.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Talen
Masculine · #4539 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Talens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Talen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Talen?
- Talen is the most-used spelling in US records — 22 of the 30 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Tallen.
- How popular is the name Talen in 2025?
- Talen ranks #4539 among US boy names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Talen?
- About 1 in every 77,640 US boys born in 2025 was named Talen — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Talen with classmates?
- Talen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Talen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nels#4539 · Gabe#4539 · Michel#4539 · Elroy#4539 · Orlin#4539 · Pearce#4539 · Josemaria#4539 · Napoleon#4539
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Talen? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Talen and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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
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