Boden
- Pronunciation
- [Bo-den]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Messenger
- Origin
- Anglo
About the Name Boden
Boden is a brisk, modern-sounding name of Anglo heritage traditionally read as "messenger," with the surname-style feel that has become so popular for boys in recent years. Whether worn as a fresh given name or a nod to family heritage, it has a sturdy, outdoorsy quality and a clean, two-syllable rhythm that fits comfortably with today's naming trends. It pairs the rugged appeal of a place-or-occupation name with the easy, friendly nickname Bo.
The name is a contemporary arrival on the American charts. Boden first entered the US Social Security top-1000 in 2014, reached its best rank of #757 in 2023, and remained on the list in 2024 at #817, with 305 boys given the name that year. Across its run it has been given to roughly 2,369 boys who reached the top-1000, the profile of a rising, of-the-moment choice that has steadily built momentum since its debut a decade ago.
Boden's appeal lies in its rugged but approachable sound, slotting in beside other "-den" favorites like Holden, Camden, and Brody, and offering that ready-made short form Bo for everyday use. It feels active and outdoorsy without being heavy-handed, a name that suits both a small child and a grown man. Recorded variants include Bowden, giving parents a slightly more traditional spelling for the same confident, surname-flavored name.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Boden
US Popularity History (2014–2025)
Annual US births named Boden by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2023 with 344 boys named Boden (boy rank #757 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #769 for boys (333 US births). That's 12 places below its 2023 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Boden Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Boden the strongest states are North Dakota, South Dakota, New Hampshire.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | #173 | 38 |
| 2 | South Dakota | #202 | 26 |
| 3 | New Hampshire | #209 | 17 |
| 4 | Maine | #219 | 16 |
| 5 | Minnesota | #339 | 169 |
| 6 | Nebraska | #375 | 20 |
| 7 | Idaho | #396 | 16 |
| 8 | Iowa | #398 | 70 |
| 9 | Oregon | #398 | 48 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | #446 | 93 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | #937 | 122 |
| 2 | Virginia | #859 | 36 |
| 3 | North Carolina | #829 | 39 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania | #781 | 81 |
| 5 | Illinois | #781 | 67 |
| 6 | Maryland | #776 | 16 |
| 7 | Arizona | #764 | 29 |
| 8 | Michigan | #726 | 74 |
| 9 | Missouri | #699 | 21 |
| 10 | Ohio | #696 | 65 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Boden in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowden | Blond | Male | Celtic |
Looking for names like Boden?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Boden to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Boden against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).