Duff
Duff was last recorded in 2008, when 6 babies were given it; 441 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2008 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Duff by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Duff mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Duff is “a male given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “dark” (dubh).
From the Irish and Scottish Gaelic surname, from dubh (“dark”).
/dʌf/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Duff?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #11,456, in 2008; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
34 babies in 1954, the peak
Duff peaked in 1954, when 34 boys were given it, #1,294 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 6 | #11,456 | 2.9 |
| 1976 | 5 | #5,846 | 3.2 |
| 1974 | 6 | #4,789 | 3.8 |
| 1973 | 7 | #4,199 | 4.5 |
| 1971 | 7 | #4,092 | 4.0 |
| 1970 | 11 | #2,943 | 5.9 |
| 1969 | 14 | #2,342 | 7.8 |
| 1968 | 6 | #3,820 | 3.5 |
| 1967 | 6 | #3,664 | 3.4 |
| 1966 | 10 | #2,672 | 5.6 |
Every recorded year (42)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 8 | #3,049 | 4.3 |
| 1964 | 14 | #2,239 | 7.0 |
| 1963 | 14 | #2,229 | 6.9 |
| 1962 | 14 | #2,211 | 6.8 |
| 1961 | 16 | #2,085 | 7.5 |
| 1960 | 15 | #2,154 | 7.0 |
| 1959 | 19 | #1,877 | 8.9 |
| 1958 | 12 | #2,402 | 5.7 |
| 1957 | 14 | #2,214 | 6.5 |
| 1956 | 31 | #1,394 | 14.7 |
| 1955 | 23 | #1,624 | 11.2 |
| 1954 | 34 | #1,294 | 16.7 |
| 1953 | 20 | #1,725 | 10.1 |
| 1952 | 11 | #2,410 | 5.7 |
| 1951 | 5 | #3,859 | 2.7 |
| 1950 | 8 | #2,836 | 4.5 |
| 1949 | 8 | #2,851 | 4.5 |
| 1948 | 8 | #2,843 | 4.6 |
| 1946 | 6 | #3,268 | 3.7 |
| 1943 | 6 | #3,319 | 4.2 |
| 1942 | 7 | #3,008 | 5.1 |
| 1941 | 7 | #2,951 | 5.7 |
| 1937 | 7 | #2,992 | 6.6 |
| 1935 | 6 | #3,357 | 5.8 |
| 1927 | 8 | #3,236 | 7.1 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,081 | 7.9 |
| 1921 | 5 | #4,517 | 4.5 |
| 1920 | 5 | #4,471 | 4.7 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,008 | 8.6 |
| 1916 | 5 | #4,079 | 5.6 |
| 1882 | 5 | #972 | 44.0 |
| 1880 | 5 | #945 | 45.3 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Duff a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Duff has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 42 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Duff: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Duff, and how old are they?
An estimated 271 Americans named Duff and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (61% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 60 and 72. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 395 people named Duff (11 women and girls, 384 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 303 born in the U.S. The Census count is 30% 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).
More about Duff and names like it
- The most given names of the 1950sDuff peaked in 1954.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Duff since 1910.
- The top names of 1954The year the most babies were named Duff.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Duff alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with DMost given first.