Efren
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Meaning
“Spanish form of Ephraim, Hebrew for 'fruitful'”
The story
Efren is the Spanish form, usually written Efrén, of Ephrem, a Syriac name that runs back to the Hebrew Ephraim, fruitful. Its saint earned the name's meaning the scholarly way: Ephrem the Syrian, the fourth-century deacon of Edessa, left more than four hundred surviving hymns and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1920, the Harp of the Spirit to the tradition that sings him. Its modern legend earned it with a cue: Efren Reyes, the Filipino pool player nicknamed the Magician for his impossible escapes, won the first televised World Pool Championship in 1999, and many in the sport call him the greatest to ever play. Mexico contributed the poet Efrén Rebolledo. The American record climbed from 163 boys in the 1920s to 1,773 in the 2000s. A name meaning fruitful, borne by a man with four hundred hymns and another with a thousand tricks.
How popular is Efren around the world?
In the United States, 416 babies were named Efren between 2020 and 2025. In Mexico City, there were 13 registrations of Efren in 2022.
Efren is on the official records of the United States, Mexico City, Spain, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.
United States
1 in 52,000
In the United States, 416 babies were named Efren between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Efren peaked in the 1990s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure. In US birth records Efren has stayed between 305 and 1,773 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Mexico City City
1 in 9,000
In Mexico City, there were 13 registrations of Efren in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (1 registration through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Spain
1 in 16,000
In Spain, 2,879 residents are named Efren, the 637th most common name among men, with a mean age of 35.5 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Chile
1 in 45,000
In Chile, 4 boys were registered as Efren in 2021, every accent spelling counted together, most often written Efrén.
The count never rose above 7 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Argentina
1 in 220,000
In Argentina, 3 newborns were given the name Efren in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 214 people in Brazil were named Efren, ranked 24,231st, with a median age of 42.
Among people named Efren living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
England and Wales
last on record 2023
Efren is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Montevideo City
last on record 1978
Efren is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Puerto Rico
last on record 2008
Efren is not on the 2025 record for Puerto Rico, which withholds births under 5, and 24 babies have carried the name there since 1998.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
South Australia
last on record 1983
Efren is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Efren
Most people given the name Efren in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Efren you meet today is most often in his 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Efren deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Efren truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Efren fits with your family’s names and surname.
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