Traven
Masculine
B. Traven wrote The Treasure of the Sierra Madre and nobody knows who he was. He refused to be photographed, corresponded through intermediaries, and the question of his identity has occupied researchers for eighty years.
How old is the name Traven?
Traven first appears in US birth records in 1974 — 51 years ago. The typical Traven alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 800 people named Traven are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Traven most popular?
Traven peaked in 1995, reaching #2210 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 8,485 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Traven
The novels appeared in German in the 1920s, set in Mexico, written by someone who plainly knew the country and whose German was odd enough that some readers thought them translations. Their author refused every request for an interview or a photograph, sent a lawyer to represent him at the film adaptation, and left a trail of names: Ret Marut, Hal Croves, Traven Torsvan. The leading candidate is an anarchist actor and editor who fled Germany after the collapse of the Bavarian Soviet Republic in 1919, and there is documentary support for it, but the case has never closed and his widow's account added more complications than it removed. The American given name has no connection to any of this. It comes from the same workshop that produced Travis, Trevon and Traven, and it is a coincidence worth knowing about rather than an origin.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Traven is an American formation, most plausibly built from the Tra- or Trav- opening on the model of Travis and Trevon. The novelist B. Traven took the name as a pseudonym; no connection between the two is documented. The peak is 1995.
Pronouncing Traven
TRAV-en
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some say TRAY-ven with a long first vowel; both readings occur.
Nicknames for Traven
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
- 1974
- Most boys named
- 200743 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2210reached in 1995
- Change vs 2024
- +20.0%6 in 2025, from 5
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.
Traven in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Travon in English — related form
- Traven in English — same name
Travens among us
people named Traven are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Traven
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 Rody test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Traven's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Rody climbed just as high around 1960, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Rody's path sketches the road Traven is walking now.
Traven 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
Traven beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Traven in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Trav is a ready short form shared with a familiar name.
- Two syllables with a firm opening.
- It is genuinely uncommon in every decade.
- Two pronunciations of the first vowel are in use.
- It has no documented meaning.
- The 1995 peak dates it closely.
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What they receive
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Traven
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Travens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Traven are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Traven in 2025?
- Traven ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Traven?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Traven — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Traven with classmates?
- Traven will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Traven
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Traven? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Traven and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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