Boys' name · since 1880

Baxter

4,034 babies named Baxter in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2014. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

#2,074 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#3,131 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
4,034
born since 1880
2010s
peak decade

Baxter currently ranks #3131 among boys' names in America, with 4,034 babies recorded since 1880.

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Baxter has been recorded 4,034 times among boys since 1880, currently ranked #3131 nationally and more common than 78% of boys, with its heaviest use in the 2010s. This profile covers year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution, all derived directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #2,074 of 45,481 all-time among boys
  • #3,131 of 13,930 2025 SSA year
  • 4,034 born since 1880
  • 2010s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Baxter ranks #2,074 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #3,131 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. 4,034 born since 1880, peaking in the 2010s.

#2,074 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#3,131 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
4,034
born since 1880
2010s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%77.5%
Baxter vs. every other boys name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Baxter's 4,034 recorded births place it above 95.43% of the 45,481 boys names in the full SSA archive.

20 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

20 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by North Carolina.

How Baxter compares

4,034 Top 15% higher than 85% of 13,930 names currently given to boys

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked boys names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Baxter's all-time total is 11x the median boys name, and Liam still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Baxter Median boys name (Takari) #1 boys name (Liam)
All-time total births 4,034 369 358,536
Peak-year births 74 34 22,252

Baxter's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Baxter splits its recorded history at 1953: 58% of all births land in the more recent half, 42% in the earlier half, an evenly balanced pattern over time. The single quietest year was 1891 (5 births) -- compare that against the 2014 peak of 74 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.

Baxter popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Outside the top 1,000
Peak year (2014)
74
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
020406080 188018991918193719561975199420132025 38

Baxter by decade

2010s is the heaviest window (610 births, 15% of the file).

2010s was Baxter's strongest decade.

610 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 15% of all-time use.

Baxter births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 2010s at 610 births (15% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Baxter compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 boys names closest to Baxter's total volume

Baxter vs 15 similarly-sized boys names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%5%10%15% 050100150200 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -58, 3.9%-84, 4.8%-63, 7.2%-144, 4.6%-146, 3%-64, 5.1%-41, 5.6%-78, 4.7%-105, 3.6%-28, 13%-145, 2%-57, 6.5%-53, 4.3%-60, 5.5%-36, 5.7%Baxter-146, 1.8%Baxter
Baxter vs 15 similarly-sized boys names

Baxter by state

Where Baxter concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Baxter
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 North Carolina
501 12.4%
#2 California
101 2.5%
#3 Tennessee
85 2.1%
#4 Texas
64 1.6%
#5 South Carolina
31 0.8%
#6 New York
13 0.3%
#7 Kentucky
11 0.3%
#8 Maine
10 0.2%
North Carolina share of Baxter's total US births 12.4%
Even split

501 of 4,034 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 20 reporting states.

Baxter appears in 20 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Baxter? ▼
4,034 babies have been named Baxter since 1880. All-time, it sits at #2,074 of 45,481 boys' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #3,131 of 13,930 among boys. The peak year was 2014 with 74 births.
Where does Baxter sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Baxter ranks #2,074 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #3,131 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Baxter most popular? ▼
Baxter was most popular in the 2010s decade with 610 total births. The single peak year was 2014.
Where is Baxter most popular? ▼
The top states for the name Baxter are North Carolina (501 births), California (101 births), Tennessee (85 births).
How long has the name Baxter been used? ▼
The SSA has tracked Baxter since 1880 -- 146 years through the most recent 2025 data.
What names are similar to Baxter? ▼
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Baxton, Baxley. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

What to do with Baxter's data

  • Baxter's usage has stayed within range of its 2010s decade-level peak (610 total births) through the 2020s (218) -- a comparatively stable name, not a fading trend.
  • North Carolina records the most Baxters (501 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. North Carolina names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Baxter

Nearby Names Like Baxter

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Baxter

Baxton Boy
#11437 81 births
Baxley Boy
55 births

Compare Baxter side by side: Baxter vs Baxton Baxter vs Baxley

Or pick any two names to compare →

Related Names

Names with a similar popularity rank to Baxter

Enos #3130
3,991 births · Peak 1921
Hal #3132
16,784 births · Peak 1956
Hamilton #3129
6,517 births · Peak 2016
Cyril #3133
12,034 births · Peak 1916
Jim #3128
153,122 births · Peak 1959
Dixon #3134
3,079 births · Peak 2014
Finan #3127
348 births · Peak 2023
Courtney #3135
23,033 births · Peak 1980

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Baxter: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Baxter draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.