Wren
/ren/ · rhymes with “hen”
A tiny songbird with a big voice
English · Old English wrenna
An old European fable crowned it king of the birds. As a baby name it is brand new: before 1998 it never passed 20 girls in a year, and in 2025 there were 1,331.
Wren at a glance
What Wren means
A tiny songbird with a big voice — Old English wrenna
Wren is the English word for one of the smallest birds in the garden, from the Old English wrenna. The Eurasian wren measures about 9 to 10 centimetres and weighs around 10 grams, yet it has a loud and often complex song, a great deal of voice for a bird you could imagine resting in your hand.
Old European fable explains the bird’s grand nickname. The birds held a contest to see who could fly highest and be crowned king. The eagle soared above all the rest, but a tiny bird had hidden in its feathers and flew higher still. That story, already known to Aristotle, is why the wren was called the king of the birds.
As a first name, Wren is a recent arrival. The Social Security files first list a girl named Wren in 1888, but for about a century it stayed almost unseen. The count passed 100 girls in 2006, reached 1,000 in 2021 and peaked at 1,609 in 2022. Among the 617 names given to at least 1,000 babies in 2025, only 40 grew faster since 2015. Maybe that is part of the appeal: a name that fits in one breath and brings a small, bright picture with it.
Source and context
The word history comes from a standard etymology dictionary, the bird and its folklore from Wikipedia, and every number from US Social Security data. We rewrite everything in our own words.
- Paragraph 1 Etymonline: wren, Wikipedia: Eurasian wren
- Paragraph 2 Wikipedia: Eurasian wren, Wikipedia: Wren (bird family)
- Paragraph 3 US Social Security Administration
- Note Wikipedia: Wren Day
The numbers behind Wren
A look at the rankings over time and across places.
Wren among girls and among boys
How Wren ranks among girls and boys’ names each year, 2015 to 2025. A lower number means more popular.
Among girls, Wren’s rank climbed from #707 in 2015 to a best of #184 in 2022, then eased to #231 in 2025. It moved down 17 places in 2025.
Among boys, Wren’s rank climbed from #2,130 in 2015 to a best of #986 in 2023, then eased to #1,090 in 2025. It moved down 60 places in 2025.
How Wren took off
- 2015Girls · Start of the 10-year view
#707 - 2016Girls · Biggest one-year jump
#524 · Up 183 rank places from #707 in 2015. - 2022Girls · Best rank
#184 - 2023Boys · Best rank
#986 - 2025Boys · Latest year
#1,090 - 2025Girls · Latest year
#231
States where Wren ranks highest
Ranked by how popular Wren is among girls’ names in each state in 2025 (in-state rank, not births per head). Montana ranks Wren highest (#32 among girls), then Idaho (#57) and Alaska (#88). Utah, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Arkansas complete the top eight, and five of the eight are Mountain West or Plains states.
- 1Montana#32
- 2Idaho#57
- 3Alaska#88
- 4Utah#94
- 5South Dakota#95
- 6Wisconsin#108
- 7Minnesota#118
- 8Arkansas#124
Wren across the decades
Babies named Wren in the US each year, 1880 to 2025.
Quiet for more than a century,
then a fast rise since 2006.
First girl recorded in 1888. It never passed 20 in a year until 1998, then reached 405 in 2015 and 1,331 in 2025.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national baby name data, 1880–2025. Calculation: NameMochi.
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More ways to explore Wren
Sibling names
Pick the name you already love. We suggest names with a similar length, style and popularity, and a different first letter.
Nickname ideas
Type a full name and get ideas built from its letters. Ideas that are also real given names show how many babies got them.
Sounds like
Find names that sound close to one you like, including different spellings of the same sound.
Initials check
See the initials of a full name, and whether they spell something you would rather avoid.
The story around Wren
Notable people and namesakes
Early and historical bearers include the British publisher Wren Howard (1893–1968) and the Canadian ice hockey coach Wren Blair (1925–2013). More recent bearers include the actor Wren T. Brown and the politician Wren Williams. Sir Christopher Wren (1632–1723), the architect of St Paul’s Cathedral, is a surname, not a first name.
Wren in pop culture
Sherwood Smith’s Wren books Novel
Fantasy novels with a heroine named Wren: Wren to the Rescue (1990), Wren’s Quest (1993), Wren’s War (1995) and Wren Journeymage (2010).
Pretty Little Liars TV series
Wren Kingston is a young doctor in the series, played by Julian Morris. He appears in seasons 1 to 4 and again in season 7, between 2010 and 2017.
Sound-alike & sibling pairs
Names like Wren
Names that share Wren’s short, nature-leaning style, starting with the ones we have written up in full.
Compare names
Three short bird names, three stories: Wren is the newcomer, Robin is an old favorite that has been recovering since 2015, and Lark has stayed rare. For a bird name that stays rare, try Lark.
| Name | Style | Latest rank | Change since 2015 | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wren | Nature · One syllable · Modern | #231 | ↑ 476 places | Rising, off its peak |
| Robin | Classic nature | #704 | ↑ 325 places | Rising fast |
| Lark | Rare nature | #4,416 | ↓ 461 places | Slipping |
Change is the move in rank since 2015, so a name can climb in rank while fewer babies are given it.
Stage compares the number of babies named in 2025 with 2015 (rising or cooling at 25% or more, fast at 50% or more).
What draws people to Wren
- One syllable gives Wren a very compact sound.Our view
- The name brings a tiny songbird to mind, along with the old story of the wren as king of the birds.Our view
- About 1,300 girls were given the name in 2025.From the data
- Shared across genders: 87% of Wrens are girls and 13% boys.From the data
- It pairs easily with a longer middle name.Our view
Things to consider
- For boys it is much rarer: 198 boys against 1,331 girls in 2025, which means a boy named Wren can occasionally be assumed to be a girl.Our view
- Its rise is recent: 80% of all babies ever recorded as Wren in the US were born since 2015.From the data
- Spelling: Ren was also given to 298 babies in 2025.From the data
Common questions about Wren
Is Wren a boy’s name or a girl’s name?
Wren is used for both girls and boys, though mostly girls. In 2025, 87% of babies named Wren were girls (1,331) and 13% were boys (198). It ranks #231 for girls and #1,090 for boys.
What does Wren mean?
Wren is the English word for a very small songbird, from the Old English wrenna. In an old fable the wren is crowned king of the birds, and ancient Greek writers such as Aristotle and Plutarch already called it a king.
How common is the name Wren?
Uncommon but no longer rare. In 2025, 1,529 American babies were named Wren, so it is not common in most classrooms. Before 1998 it never passed 20 girls in a year.
Is Wren still rising?
It peaked in 2022 with 1,609 girls and has eased since, to 1,331 in 2025. Over ten years it is still up 225%.
Who are some people named Wren?
Examples include the publisher Wren Howard, the hockey coach Wren Blair and the actor Wren T. Brown. Sir Christopher Wren, the architect of St Paul’s Cathedral, carried it as a surname.
Wren is a short name with a long story behind it. See more names on the rise →
How these numbers are built
Sources → Calculations → Limitations
Sources
- The US Social Security Administration’s national and state baby name files, built from Social Security card applications for births in the United States.SSA baby name data
- Data year
- Births through 2025. New data arrives each May, and we recalculate this page then.
- Dates
- Published October 2026. Last updated October 2026.
- Word and folklore sources
- Word history, the bird and its folklore, Wren Day, the people who share the name and the fiction come from reference works.Etymonline: wrenWikipedia: Eurasian wrenWikipedia: Wren (bird family)Wikipedia: Wren DayWikipedia: Wren (name)Wikipedia: Sherwood SmithWikipedia: Pretty Little Liars charactersWikipedia: Julian MorrisWikipedia: Christopher Wren
Calculations
- Ranks
- A rank is the name’s position among girls or among boys in the SSA file for that year (most babies = #1). Girls and boys are ranked separately.
- Counts
- Babies given exactly this spelling. Spelling variants are counted separately.
- Growth, peaks, milestones, shares and comparisons are calculated by NameMochi from those files.How NameMochi calculates
- Stat cards
- The five cards are the most informative facts available for this name, picked by a score and shown in a fixed order.
Limitations
- US births only. The files record the sex shown on the application, which says nothing about how a child later identifies. Names given to fewer than five babies in a year are left out.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Calculation: NameMochi.