Witten
Masculine · “of the white place”
Witten is given to both — 1,013 boys and 57 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Witten is a surname twice over — a town in the German Ruhr and an English family name from the word for white or fair. It came into American first-name use recently and chiefly through sport, in the way that Brady and Beckham did.
How old is the name Witten?
Witten first appears in US birth records in 2007 — 18 years ago. The typical Witten is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Witten are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Witten most popular?
Witten peaked in 2018, reaching #1385 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 1,743 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Witte to Witten
The story of Witten
Both lines are documented. Westphalian families took the town's name when surnames became fixed, and the name traveled to America with nineteenth-century German emigration. Separately, English Witt and Whitt produced Witten and Whitten as family names. The move into given names is very recent and follows a familiar American pattern in which a well-known athlete's surname begins appearing on birth certificates within a few seasons.
Meaningscholars disagree
of the white place, or son of Witt
The German surname is from the industrial town of Witten in Westphalia, itself an old settlement name. The English and Low German surname is patronymic, built on Witt or Witte, a byname for someone fair-haired or pale.
How the name formed
- Witte
- Witten
Related forms: Whitten · Witte
Pronouncing Witten
WIT-uhn
Two syllables, first stressed. In German the final syllable is fuller, VIT-en.
Nicknames for Witten
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
- 2007
- Most boys named
- 2018127 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1385reached in 2018
- Change vs 2024
- −7.3%38 in 2025, from 41
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.
Witten in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Whitten in English — spelling variant
- Witte in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas.
Wittens among us
people named Witten are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Witten
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 Jackey test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Witten's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jackey climbed just as high around 1956, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jackey's path sketches the road Witten is walking now.
Witten 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 Witten is headed
Witten is easing off slowly — about 32% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Witten beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Witten in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Plain English letters and an obvious pronunciation on first sight.
- Two documented surname histories, German and English, rather than an invention.
- It fits the current group of -en surname names without being one of the crowded ones.
- The sports association is the reason most Americans recognize it, and it will be the first thing said.
- Whitten and Witten are both current spellings, so expect the h to be added for him.
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What they receive
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Witten
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Wittens 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 Witten are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Witten in 2025?
- Witten ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Witten?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Witten — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Witten with classmates?
- Witten will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Witten
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hamilton#3128 · Juanpablo#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Tavion#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Witten? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Witten and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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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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