Walden
Masculine · “valley of the Britons”
Walden is an English place-and-family name meaning the valley of the Britons — a name given by Anglo-Saxons to a place where the older Celtic-speaking people still lived. It is also a pond in Massachusetts and the book written beside it.
How old is the name Walden?
Walden first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Walden alive today was born around 1980, making them about 45 years old. About 1,000 people named Walden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Walden most popular?
Walden peaked in 1908, reaching #1373 nationally. Today it ranks #3181, 1,808 places below that high. See the whole 1908 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From wealh denu to Walden
The story of Walden
Saffron Walden and several other English places carry the name, and families took it as a surname when surnames fixed. The wealh element is worth pausing on: it is the same word that gave Wales and Welsh their names, and it originally meant simply a foreigner. The surname crossed to America early, and in 1854 a book named for a Massachusetts pond attached a second and very different set of associations to the word.
Meaningscholars disagree
valley of the Britons
The usual reading takes Old English wealh, a Briton or foreigner, with denu, a valley. A second account reads the first element as weald, woodland, giving a wooded valley instead; both are attested in English place names.
How the name formed
- wealh denu
- Walden
Related forms: Waldon · Waldemar
Pronouncing Walden
WAWL-den
Two syllables, first stressed. There is little variation.
Nicknames for Walden
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
- 1908
- Most boys named
- 202355 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1373reached in 1908
- Change vs 2023
- −32.7%37 in 2025, from 55
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.
Walden in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Waldon in English — spelling variant
- Waldemar in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Colorado, Massachusetts.
Waldens among us
people named Walden are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 46,164 born in 2025 was named Walden
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
Walden 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 Walden is headed
Walden 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.
Walden beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Walden in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented English place-name meaning with a genuinely interesting history in its first element.
- It fits the current group of -den surname names without being one of the crowded ones.
- Plain English letters, read correctly at first sight.
- The literary association is strong in the United States and will be the first thing many people mention.
- Walden and Waldon are both used, so the spelling gets asked for.
- The Wally clip is dated in a way that some families will want to head off early.
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What they receive
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Walden
Masculine · #3181 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Waldens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Walden are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Walden in 2025?
- Walden ranks #3181 among US boy names in 2025, with 37 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Walden?
- About 1 in every 46,164 US boys born in 2025 was named Walden — 37 in all.
- Will my child share the name Walden with classmates?
- Walden will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Walden
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Diamond#3181 · Tobin#3181 · Keion#3181 · Artem#3181 · Arsh#3181 · Kris#3181 · Daren#3181 · Esau#3181
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Walden? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Walden and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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