Butler
Butler was last recorded in 1996, when 6 babies were given it; 987 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 1996 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Butler by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Butler mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Butler is “a male given name.”
(English surname): From Middle English Butler.
(Anglicized surname): From French Boutilier, Boutillier, Bouthillier.
(placename): From the surname
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Butler?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #8,078, in 1996; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
31 babies in 1919, the peak
Butler peaked in 1919, when 31 boys were given it, #1,266 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 6 | #8,078 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 5 | #8,270 | under 0.01 |
| 1980 | 10 | #3,882 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 5 | #5,712 | under 0.01 |
| 1971 | 5 | #5,001 | under 0.01 |
| 1967 | 5 | #4,029 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 8 | #3,073 | under 0.01 |
| 1962 | 7 | #3,344 | under 0.01 |
| 1961 | 7 | #3,392 | under 0.01 |
| 1960 | 8 | #3,124 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (84)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | 7 | #3,319 | under 0.01 |
| 1958 | 7 | #3,311 | under 0.01 |
| 1956 | 9 | #2,817 | under 0.01 |
| 1955 | 9 | #2,793 | under 0.01 |
| 1954 | 8 | #2,981 | under 0.01 |
| 1953 | 5 | #3,868 | under 0.01 |
| 1952 | 6 | #3,410 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 9 | #2,686 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 5 | #3,756 | under 0.01 |
| 1949 | 15 | #1,951 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 14 | #2,039 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 11 | #2,381 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 10 | #2,415 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 15 | #1,783 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 7 | #2,894 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 22 | #1,489 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 10 | #2,403 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 10 | #2,357 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 13 | #1,994 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 6 | #3,159 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 23 | #1,401 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 14 | #1,919 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 16 | #1,739 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 11 | #2,267 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 10 | #2,413 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 10 | #2,391 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 10 | #2,480 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,680 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 12 | #2,316 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 20 | #1,682 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 17 | #1,911 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 14 | #2,211 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 17 | #1,921 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 9 | #2,956 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 23 | #1,635 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 21 | #1,702 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 17 | #1,961 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 22 | #1,654 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 24 | #1,547 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 31 | #1,266 | 0.03 |
| 1918 | 21 | #1,660 | 0.02 |
| 1917 | 23 | #1,485 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 24 | #1,420 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 25 | #1,346 | 0.03 |
| 1914 | 22 | #1,269 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 20 | #1,151 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 15 | #1,231 | 0.03 |
| 1911 | 10 | #1,126 | 0.04 |
| 1910 | 8 | #1,213 | 0.04 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,093 | 0.05 |
| 1908 | 8 | #1,030 | 0.05 |
| 1907 | 6 | #1,213 | 0.04 |
| 1906 | 7 | #1,020 | 0.05 |
| 1903 | 7 | #921 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 6 | #1,025 | 0.05 |
| 1900 | 12 | #749 | 0.08 |
| 1899 | 12 | #585 | 0.11 |
| 1897 | 7 | #858 | 0.06 |
| 1896 | 11 | #679 | 0.09 |
| 1895 | 9 | #745 | 0.08 |
| 1894 | 9 | #741 | 0.08 |
| 1893 | 10 | #663 | 0.09 |
| 1892 | 13 | #574 | 0.11 |
| 1891 | 5 | #991 | 0.05 |
| 1890 | 11 | #608 | 0.10 |
| 1889 | 12 | #558 | 0.11 |
| 1888 | 6 | #935 | 0.05 |
| 1887 | 9 | #640 | 0.09 |
| 1886 | 13 | #518 | 0.12 |
| 1885 | 12 | #554 | 0.11 |
| 1884 | 5 | #993 | 0.04 |
| 1883 | 7 | #734 | 0.07 |
| 1882 | 12 | #545 | 0.11 |
| 1880 | 8 | #689 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Butler a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Butler has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 84 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Butler: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Butler, and how old are they?
An estimated 171 Americans named Butler and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (17% of everyone recorded); the median is 73 years old and half are between 64 and 81. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 432 people named Butler (70 women and girls, 362 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 225 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.9 times 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 Butler
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 Butler and names like it
- Compare Butler and GustaveBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sButler peaked in 1919.
- South Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Butler since 1910.
- The top names of 1919The year the most babies were named Butler.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Butler alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with BMost given first.