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Espen

#3,878 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

God, through Ásbjǫrn

Espen has been given to 863 babies in the U.S. since 1995. In 2025 it ranked #3,878 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2015, with 37 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 83% boys, 17% girls all-time.

Babies named Espen, 2025

1 in 118,000

Espen over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Espen over time

In 2025, Espen went to 35% girls and 65% boys.

19952025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Espen: meaning, origin, and history

God, through Ásbjǫrn

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Espen means

Espen belongs to the name family reached through Espen → Ásbjǫrn. Its meaning is “god”.

Origin, language, and formation

Espen is used in Norwegian.

Espen comes through Danish Esben and Old Norse Ásbjǫrn.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Osborne and Ásbjǫrn.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 715 boys were recorded with the name Espen between 1995 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 37 in 2015; its best national rank was #2,912 in 2005.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #3,671 in 2020 to #3,878 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,099 in 2015 to #3,878 in 2025.

In the United States, 148 girls were recorded with the name Espen between 2014 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 18 in 2019; its best national rank was #6,506 in 2019.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #8,561 in 2020 to #7,237 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #11,188 in 2015 to #7,237 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Espen?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 118,000
28 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 61,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#3,878
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
82,069 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Espen sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 82,069 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Espen. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Espens were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Espen was born before 2013 — so the typical Espen is around 12 today.

Median birth year
2013
About 12 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
41.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
92.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
715
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 41.8% of all recorded uses (299).

Is Espen rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−248
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−207
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−779
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.76×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
75.7%
Peak was 2015 (37)
Years since peak
10
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,912
2005

Spellings of Espen

Espen is not the most common spelling — Eden is, with 19.1% against Espen's 1.2%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Espen is used

Across 1910–2025, Espen was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 3,069,616 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Espen has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Espen around the world

Where Espen ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2002–2025
    #4,275
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #417
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2015–2024
    #2,855
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2008–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Espen by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#3,878
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 207
Best rank ever
#2,912
2005
Peak year
2015
37 that year
First recorded
1995
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
715
Count in 2025
28

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#7,237
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,324
Best rank ever
#6,506
2019
Peak year
2019
18 that year
First recorded
2014
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
148
Count in 2025
15

Names similar to Espen

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AspenEspnCaspenCopenKaspenEsperEspieEspoirEspyJaspenStepenEspynEspiridionKopenEsperanzaRupenStehpen

Sibling names for Espen

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Espen

Top names of 2015, Espen's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2005Boys' names starting with ENorwegian Boy NamesNorwegian Names