Buddy
Buddy was given to 23 boys in 2025, #4,417 among boys’ names; 22,585 Americans have been recorded with it since 1893 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 11,100 Americans named Buddy and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (49% of everyone recorded); the median is 63 years old and half are between 48 and 75.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Buddy by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Buddy mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Buddy is “a male given name from English.”
Also “a given name for a dog.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Buddy?
#4,417 among boys’ names, 2025
Buddy fell from #3,894 in 2015 to #4,417 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 14.1 to 13.5 per million.
604 babies in 1935, the peak
Buddy peaked in 1935, when 604 boys were given it, #202 among boys’ names. The 23 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 23 | #4,417 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 29 | #3,809 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 39 | #3,123 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 32 | #3,547 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 35 | #3,310 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 24 | #4,155 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 18 | #5,186 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 23 | #4,377 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 28 | #3,781 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 30 | #3,603 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (131)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 27 | #3,894 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 35 | #3,161 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 23 | #4,198 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 38 | #3,009 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 27 | #3,804 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 22 | #4,381 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 43 | #2,804 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 28 | #3,748 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 32 | #3,382 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 25 | #3,902 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 41 | #2,661 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 37 | #2,790 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 40 | #2,544 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 35 | #2,692 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 36 | #2,620 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 40 | #2,379 | 0.02 |
| 1999 | 29 | #2,866 | 0.02 |
| 1998 | 44 | #2,095 | 0.02 |
| 1997 | 55 | #1,752 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 45 | #1,959 | 0.02 |
| 1995 | 41 | #2,027 | 0.02 |
| 1994 | 48 | #1,793 | 0.02 |
| 1993 | 78 | #1,284 | 0.04 |
| 1992 | 65 | #1,413 | 0.03 |
| 1991 | 80 | #1,240 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 98 | #1,070 | 0.05 |
| 1989 | 97 | #1,055 | 0.05 |
| 1988 | 104 | #942 | 0.05 |
| 1987 | 116 | #865 | 0.06 |
| 1986 | 121 | #827 | 0.07 |
| 1985 | 116 | #832 | 0.06 |
| 1984 | 130 | #759 | 0.07 |
| 1983 | 138 | #736 | 0.08 |
| 1982 | 174 | #660 | 0.10 |
| 1981 | 156 | #691 | 0.09 |
| 1980 | 139 | #744 | 0.08 |
| 1979 | 168 | #658 | 0.10 |
| 1978 | 174 | #631 | 0.11 |
| 1977 | 185 | #617 | 0.11 |
| 1976 | 170 | #629 | 0.11 |
| 1975 | 179 | #607 | 0.11 |
| 1974 | 174 | #609 | 0.11 |
| 1973 | 205 | #551 | 0.13 |
| 1972 | 231 | #516 | 0.14 |
| 1971 | 215 | #549 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 188 | #592 | 0.10 |
| 1969 | 213 | #539 | 0.12 |
| 1968 | 191 | #546 | 0.11 |
| 1967 | 213 | #514 | 0.12 |
| 1966 | 217 | #514 | 0.12 |
| 1965 | 259 | #483 | 0.14 |
| 1964 | 279 | #473 | 0.14 |
| 1963 | 303 | #454 | 0.15 |
| 1962 | 336 | #435 | 0.16 |
| 1961 | 377 | #406 | 0.18 |
| 1960 | 356 | #424 | 0.17 |
| 1959 | 318 | #449 | 0.15 |
| 1958 | 350 | #419 | 0.16 |
| 1957 | 354 | #413 | 0.16 |
| 1956 | 346 | #407 | 0.16 |
| 1955 | 356 | #379 | 0.17 |
| 1954 | 330 | #394 | 0.16 |
| 1953 | 331 | #380 | 0.17 |
| 1952 | 315 | #386 | 0.16 |
| 1951 | 370 | #357 | 0.20 |
| 1950 | 379 | #345 | 0.21 |
| 1949 | 344 | #364 | 0.19 |
| 1948 | 354 | #359 | 0.20 |
| 1947 | 378 | #350 | 0.21 |
| 1946 | 366 | #336 | 0.23 |
| 1945 | 322 | #332 | 0.24 |
| 1944 | 401 | #299 | 0.29 |
| 1943 | 430 | #296 | 0.30 |
| 1942 | 501 | #266 | 0.36 |
| 1941 | 456 | #262 | 0.37 |
| 1940 | 448 | #264 | 0.39 |
| 1939 | 499 | #233 | 0.45 |
| 1938 | 522 | #229 | 0.47 |
| 1937 | 551 | #216 | 0.52 |
| 1936 | 524 | #221 | 0.51 |
| 1935 | 604 | #202 | 0.58 |
| 1934 | 517 | #227 | 0.50 |
| 1933 | 519 | #222 | 0.52 |
| 1932 | 467 | #248 | 0.45 |
| 1931 | 464 | #248 | 0.45 |
| 1930 | 437 | #269 | 0.40 |
| 1929 | 355 | #295 | 0.33 |
| 1928 | 251 | #368 | 0.23 |
| 1927 | 260 | #362 | 0.23 |
| 1926 | 226 | #393 | 0.20 |
| 1925 | 172 | #462 | 0.15 |
| 1924 | 177 | #460 | 0.16 |
| 1923 | 130 | #535 | 0.12 |
| 1922 | 126 | #566 | 0.12 |
| 1921 | 112 | #599 | 0.10 |
| 1920 | 103 | #623 | 0.10 |
| 1919 | 94 | #624 | 0.10 |
| 1918 | 97 | #625 | 0.10 |
| 1917 | 72 | #727 | 0.08 |
| 1916 | 69 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1915 | 64 | #753 | 0.08 |
| 1914 | 67 | #618 | 0.10 |
| 1913 | 51 | #618 | 0.10 |
| 1912 | 34 | #736 | 0.08 |
| 1911 | 16 | #828 | 0.07 |
| 1910 | 40 | #431 | 0.21 |
| 1909 | 15 | #723 | 0.09 |
| 1908 | 15 | #689 | 0.10 |
| 1907 | 18 | #594 | 0.12 |
| 1906 | 15 | #618 | 0.11 |
| 1905 | 8 | #935 | 0.06 |
| 1904 | 11 | #730 | 0.09 |
| 1903 | 6 | #1,027 | 0.05 |
| 1902 | 15 | #560 | 0.12 |
| 1901 | 8 | #785 | 0.08 |
| 1900 | 10 | #846 | 0.07 |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,067 | 0.05 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,143 | 0.04 |
| 1896 | 11 | #678 | 0.09 |
| 1894 | 7 | #872 | 0.06 |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,058 | 0.04 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Buddy a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Buddy has been given almost only to boys: 45 girls in 131 years of records.
Girls and boys named Buddy: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Buddy, and how old are they?
11,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 49% of the 22,585 Americans ever recorded as Buddy. The median Buddy alive today is 63 years old; half are between 48 and 75.
The 2020 Census counted 10,012 people named Buddy (119 women and girls, 9,893 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 12,992 born in the U.S. The Census count is 23% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,600 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,290 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,750 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,520 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 562 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 363 |
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 Buddy born?
The states with the most babies named Buddy are Texas, California and Oklahoma, with 27% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Oklahoma is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 2,165 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| California | 1,346 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Oklahoma | 1,344 | not ranked | 3.5× |
| Tennessee | 1,159 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| North Carolina | 1,129 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Georgia | 921 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Arkansas | 856 | not ranked | 2.7× |
| Missouri | 805 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Kentucky | 743 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Ohio | 727 | not ranked | 0.6× |
Where Buddy is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Buddy is most over-represented in Oklahoma: since 1910 it was given 3.5 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 Buddy 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 24,086 babies since 1880, Buddy is the most given (94% of them). In 2025 it was given to 23 of their 23 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 Buddy
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 Buddy and names like it
- Compare Buddy and BuddieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sBuddy peaked in 1935.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Buddy since 1910.
- English namesWiktionary’s origin for Buddy: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1935The year the most babies were named Buddy.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Buddy alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.