Holden
Meaning
place name/surname, "hollow valley"
The story
Holden is the hollow valley, an English place-surname, and its most famous bearer has been sixteen years old since 1951. The odd, honest fact in our records is the lag: The Catcher in the Rye sold its millions for three decades while the name stayed under 70 a decade. The climb began in the 1980s, about 530, then 3,400 in the 1990s, 7,400, then 13,200 in the 2010s, with 8,000 so far this decade. The readers grew up, and some of them, apparently, forgave Holden Caulfield enough to name sons after him; a decade bucket cannot read motives, but a thirty-year echo is a strange coincidence otherwise. In our records it goes to boys about 32,500 to 290. The valley in the etymology is quiet and sheltered, which is not a bad blessing to hide under a name that mostly gets chosen for its literary ghost.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Holden peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
20 people · the #124,180 first name in Brazil · median age 45
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Holden
Most people given the name Holden 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.
The Holden deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Holden 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 Holden fits with your family’s names and surname.
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