Bedford
Bedford was last recorded in 2022, when 5 babies were given it; 1,240 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2022 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Bedford by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Bedford?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #12,587, in 2022; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
41 babies in 1924, the peak
Bedford peaked in 1924, when 41 boys were given it, #1,119 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 5 | #12,587 | 2.9 |
| 2018 | 5 | #12,383 | 2.8 |
| 1991 | 5 | #8,327 | 2.5 |
| 1987 | 5 | #7,051 | 2.7 |
| 1985 | 5 | #6,612 | 2.7 |
| 1984 | 5 | #6,413 | 2.8 |
| 1980 | 5 | #6,340 | 2.8 |
| 1978 | 5 | #5,874 | 3.0 |
| 1976 | 6 | #4,985 | 3.8 |
| 1975 | 5 | #5,547 | 3.2 |
Every recorded year (92)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 8 | #3,732 | 5.1 |
| 1969 | 7 | #3,621 | 3.9 |
| 1968 | 8 | #3,127 | 4.6 |
| 1967 | 6 | #3,591 | 3.4 |
| 1966 | 10 | #2,636 | 5.6 |
| 1965 | 8 | #3,006 | 4.3 |
| 1964 | 10 | #2,677 | 5.0 |
| 1963 | 9 | #2,874 | 4.4 |
| 1962 | 10 | #2,677 | 4.8 |
| 1961 | 7 | #3,379 | 3.3 |
| 1960 | 7 | #3,366 | 3.3 |
| 1959 | 9 | #2,838 | 4.2 |
| 1958 | 10 | #2,659 | 4.7 |
| 1957 | 10 | #2,652 | 4.6 |
| 1955 | 20 | #1,729 | 9.7 |
| 1954 | 21 | #1,668 | 10.3 |
| 1953 | 12 | #2,294 | 6.1 |
| 1952 | 16 | #1,942 | 8.2 |
| 1951 | 12 | #2,259 | 6.4 |
| 1950 | 12 | #2,217 | 6.7 |
| 1949 | 9 | #2,624 | 5.1 |
| 1948 | 14 | #2,032 | 8.0 |
| 1947 | 14 | #2,079 | 7.7 |
| 1946 | 16 | #1,820 | 9.9 |
| 1945 | 16 | #1,701 | 11.9 |
| 1944 | 11 | #2,200 | 8.1 |
| 1943 | 17 | #1,769 | 11.9 |
| 1942 | 21 | #1,538 | 15.2 |
| 1941 | 20 | #1,536 | 16.3 |
| 1940 | 20 | #1,522 | 17.3 |
| 1939 | 16 | #1,718 | 14.5 |
| 1938 | 14 | #1,906 | 12.6 |
| 1937 | 18 | #1,635 | 16.9 |
| 1936 | 16 | #1,731 | 15.4 |
| 1935 | 23 | #1,424 | 22.1 |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,325 | 25.2 |
| 1933 | 24 | #1,363 | 24.2 |
| 1932 | 23 | #1,468 | 22.0 |
| 1931 | 17 | #1,773 | 16.4 |
| 1930 | 24 | #1,497 | 21.9 |
| 1929 | 37 | #1,140 | 34.4 |
| 1928 | 33 | #1,255 | 29.8 |
| 1927 | 26 | #1,475 | 23.1 |
| 1926 | 23 | #1,569 | 20.7 |
| 1925 | 30 | #1,335 | 26.9 |
| 1924 | 41 | #1,119 | 36.2 |
| 1923 | 27 | #1,427 | 24.6 |
| 1922 | 28 | #1,398 | 25.7 |
| 1921 | 30 | #1,362 | 27.2 |
| 1920 | 30 | #1,326 | 28.2 |
| 1919 | 25 | #1,454 | 25.5 |
| 1918 | 28 | #1,343 | 27.6 |
| 1917 | 23 | #1,484 | 24.9 |
| 1916 | 17 | #1,776 | 19.1 |
| 1915 | 29 | #1,218 | 34.2 |
| 1914 | 27 | #1,102 | 41.2 |
| 1913 | 16 | #1,316 | 31.2 |
| 1912 | 5 | #2,575 | 11.6 |
| 1911 | 5 | #1,763 | 22.1 |
| 1910 | 6 | #1,435 | 30.9 |
| 1909 | 6 | #1,288 | 36.6 |
| 1908 | 5 | #1,386 | 32.4 |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,107 | 47.7 |
| 1906 | 6 | #1,128 | 45.1 |
| 1905 | 6 | #1,103 | 45.3 |
| 1904 | 7 | #973 | 54.6 |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,144 | 41.9 |
| 1902 | 6 | #1,019 | 48.9 |
| 1901 | 6 | #961 | 56.4 |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,061 | 47.1 |
| 1898 | 6 | #1,015 | 48.9 |
| 1895 | 6 | #988 | 51.1 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,092 | 43.2 |
| 1892 | 7 | #869 | 57.4 |
| 1889 | 6 | #886 | 54.3 |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,046 | 41.4 |
| 1887 | 8 | #692 | 78.9 |
| 1886 | 5 | #977 | 45.1 |
| 1884 | 5 | #980 | 43.7 |
| 1882 | 8 | #706 | 70.4 |
| 1881 | 5 | #878 | 49.6 |
| 1880 | 7 | #751 | 63.4 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Bedford a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Bedford has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 92 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Bedford: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Bedford, and how old are they?
An estimated 291 Americans named Bedford and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (24% of everyone recorded); the median is 71 years old and half are between 59 and 79. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 415 people named Bedford (5 women and girls, 410 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 371 born in the U.S. The Census count is 12% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Bedford
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Bedford and names like it
- Compare Bedford and FinisBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sBedford peaked in 1924.
- Tennessee’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Bedford since 1910.
- The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Bedford.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Bedford alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.