Haven
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Meaning
from the word "haven", a safe place
The story
Haven Gillespie wrote a song about Santa Claus after returning from his brother’s funeral. The account comes from his nephew, as summarized by the Songwriters Hall of Fame: Gillespie met a publisher in Manhattan after the funeral of his brother Irwin, then wrote the lyrics on the subway. Those lyrics became Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, with music by J. Fred Coots, in 1934. Haven, the professional name Gillespie used, is also an English word for a safe place. Its history runs through Old English hæfen, a harbor or port, giving the English word both a place for ships and a broader sense of shelter. According to the family account, the lyrics written on the subway made their broadcast debut on Eddie Cantor’s Thanksgiving Show.
How popular is Haven around the world?
In the United States, 8,563 babies were named Haven between 2020 and 2025.
Haven is on the official records of the United States, Canada, New Zealand, South Australia, Ireland and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 2,500
In the United States, 8,563 babies were named Haven between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Haven peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 3,300
In Canada, 88 girls named Haven were born in 2024, the 339th most common name among girls that year.
In Canada, 22 boys named Haven were born in 2024, ranked 1,105th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New Zealand
1 in 5,200
In New Zealand, 11 girls named Haven were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
South Australia
1 in 9,2002017
In South Australia, 2 girls were registered as Haven in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 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
Ireland
1 in 18,000
In Ireland, 3 girls named Haven were born in 2025, the 885th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
England and Wales
1 in 22,000
In England and Wales, 20 girls named Haven were born in 2025, ranked 1,512th among girls that year.
In England and Wales, 7 boys named Haven were born in 2025, ranked 2,952nd among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Poland
last on record 2015
Haven is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. 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 Haven
Most people given the name Haven in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Haven deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Haven 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 Haven fits with your family’s names and surname.
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