Boston
Boston is given to both girls and boys: 54 girls and 451 boys were given it in 2025 (#3,037 among girls’ names and #620 among boys’, #1,159 among all names counting both); 11,944 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 11,400 Americans named Boston and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (96% of everyone recorded); the median is 12 years old and half are between 6 and 18.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Boston by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Boston mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Boston is “a male given name transferred from the place name or surname.”
However, this is uncertain.
/ˈbɔstən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Boston?
#620 among boys’ names, 2025
Boston fell from #605 in 2015 to #620 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 0.24 to 0.26 per 1,000.
562 babies in 2014, the peak
Boston peaked in 2014, when 562 babies were given it (497 boys, #555 among boys’ names). The 505 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 90% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 451 | #620 | 0.26 |
| 2024 | 451 | #627 | 0.26 |
| 2023 | 433 | #636 | 0.25 |
| 2022 | 454 | #616 | 0.26 |
| 2021 | 464 | #601 | 0.27 |
| 2020 | 463 | #594 | 0.27 |
| 2019 | 451 | #607 | 0.25 |
| 2018 | 407 | #640 | 0.22 |
| 2017 | 389 | #659 | 0.21 |
| 2016 | 416 | #638 | 0.22 |
Every recorded year (103)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 451 | #605 | 0.24 |
| 2014 | 497 | #555 | 0.26 |
| 2013 | 465 | #566 | 0.25 |
| 2012 | 487 | #536 | 0.26 |
| 2011 | 456 | #557 | 0.24 |
| 2010 | 462 | #546 | 0.24 |
| 2009 | 492 | #537 | 0.25 |
| 2008 | 461 | #563 | 0.23 |
| 2007 | 388 | #627 | 0.19 |
| 2006 | 374 | #631 | 0.18 |
| 2005 | 302 | #687 | 0.15 |
| 2004 | 188 | #908 | 0.09 |
| 2003 | 130 | #1,154 | 0.07 |
| 2002 | 116 | #1,198 | 0.06 |
| 2001 | 75 | #1,589 | 0.04 |
| 2000 | 83 | #1,475 | 0.04 |
| 1999 | 73 | #1,528 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 73 | #1,499 | 0.04 |
| 1997 | 60 | #1,655 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 55 | #1,705 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 57 | #1,599 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 43 | #1,923 | 0.02 |
| 1993 | 34 | #2,255 | 0.02 |
| 1992 | 46 | #1,800 | 0.02 |
| 1991 | 25 | #2,684 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 29 | #2,371 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 23 | #2,696 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 18 | #2,973 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 16 | #3,084 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 9 | #4,497 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 7 | #5,200 | under 0.01 |
| 1984 | 8 | #4,598 | under 0.01 |
| 1982 | 11 | #3,714 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 12 | #3,435 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 7 | #4,989 | under 0.01 |
| 1978 | 5 | #5,892 | under 0.01 |
| 1977 | 6 | #5,199 | under 0.01 |
| 1970 | 6 | #4,281 | under 0.01 |
| 1969 | 5 | #4,467 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 6 | #3,643 | under 0.01 |
| 1963 | 5 | #4,100 | under 0.01 |
| 1962 | 6 | #3,673 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 7 | #3,245 | under 0.01 |
| 1955 | 5 | #3,936 | under 0.01 |
| 1954 | 8 | #2,971 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 6 | #3,393 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 7 | #3,059 | under 0.01 |
| 1948 | 7 | #3,030 | under 0.01 |
| 1947 | 7 | #3,114 | under 0.01 |
| 1946 | 8 | #2,715 | under 0.01 |
| 1945 | 10 | #2,262 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 6 | #3,140 | under 0.01 |
| 1943 | 11 | #2,292 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 10 | #2,396 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 8 | #2,680 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 9 | #2,501 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 5 | #3,539 | under 0.01 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,200 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 9 | #2,507 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 7 | #2,889 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 8 | #2,739 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 10 | #2,410 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,385 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 6 | #3,408 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 6 | #3,427 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 9 | #2,787 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 10 | #2,683 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 5 | #4,270 | under 0.01 |
| 1926 | 21 | #1,668 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 11 | #2,610 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 13 | #2,365 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 16 | #2,050 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 21 | #1,709 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 13 | #2,351 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 9 | #2,905 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 9 | #2,907 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 12 | #2,298 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 13 | #2,166 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 13 | #2,080 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 16 | #1,554 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 8 | #2,110 | 0.02 |
| 1912 | 6 | #2,308 | 0.01 |
| 1910 | 8 | #1,209 | 0.04 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,477 | 0.03 |
| 1907 | 8 | #1,007 | 0.05 |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,254 | 0.04 |
| 1902 | 5 | #1,163 | 0.04 |
| 1901 | 6 | #964 | 0.06 |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,054 | 0.04 |
| 1891 | 7 | #773 | 0.07 |
| 1886 | 5 | #982 | 0.05 |
| 1884 | 5 | #988 | 0.04 |
| 1880 | 5 | #928 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Boston a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 11,944 Americans recorded as Boston, 9% are girls and 91% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Boston: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Boston, and how old are they?
11,400 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 96% of the 11,944 Americans ever recorded as Boston. The median Boston alive today is 12 years old; half are between 6 and 18.
The 2020 Census counted 8,054 people named Boston (739 women and girls, 7,315 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 8,637 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 30 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 45 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 26 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 411 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,560 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,360 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
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).
Where are babies named Boston born?
The states with the most babies named Boston are Utah, Texas and California, with 30% of its births recorded by state in 2025; Utah is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 54 | #117 | 10.1× |
| Texas | 40 | #702 | 0.8× |
| California | 37 | #799 | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 22 | #473 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 20 | #425 | 0.8× |
| Indiana | 18 | #396 | 1.2× |
| Arizona | 18 | #412 | 0.9× |
| Tennessee | 17 | #455 | 0.8× |
| Missouri | 15 | #421 | 1.2× |
| Kentucky | 13 | #378 | 0.9× |
Where Boston is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Boston is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 10.1 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Boston with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 2 names spelled alike, given to 12,047 babies since 1880, Boston is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 505 of their 505 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Boston
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 Boston and names like it
- Compare Boston and BostenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sBoston peaked in 2014.
- Utah’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Boston since 1910.
- From place namesWiktionary’s origin for Boston: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2014The year the most babies were named Boston.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Boston alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with BMost given first.