Torben
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Meaning
the Danish form of Torbjørn, from Old Norse Þórbjǫrn, "Thor's bear", made of the god Thor and bjǫrn, "bear"
How popular is Torben around the world?
Torben does not appear in US Social Security baby-name records, which list only names given to at least five babies in a year. There is no popularity curve to chart: a genuinely rare pick. In Norway, 6 boys were given the name Torben in 2025.
Torben is on the official records of Norway, England and Wales, Austria and Spain.
United States
under 5 a year
Torben does not appear in US Social Security baby-name records, which list only names given to at least five babies in a year. There is no popularity curve to chart: a genuinely rare pick.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Norway
1 in 4,800register 2026
In Norway, 6 boys were given the name Torben in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
England and Wales
1 in 49,000
In England and Wales, 12 boys named Torben were born in 2025, ranked 2,014th 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
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Torben was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Spain
1 in 1.8M
In Spain, 25 residents are named Torben, ranked 25,802nd among men, with a mean age of 52.9 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
Canada
last on record 2018
Torben is not on the 2024 record for Canada, where names under 5 in a year are excluded at source.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
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)
Scotland
last on record 2022
Torben is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
South Australia
last on record 2013
Torben 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 9 other recordsWhy
- Not on the record in Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, New Zealand and Poland: 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.
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The Torben deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Torben 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 Torben fits with your family’s names and surname.
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