Early
Early was given to 10 boys in 2025, #7,813 among boys’ names; 4,362 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,190 Americans named Early and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (27% of everyone recorded); the median is 69 years old and half are between 52 and 78.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Early by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Early?
#7,813 among boys’ names, 2025
Early fell from #6,422 in 2015 to #7,813 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 6.8 to 5.9 per million.
99 babies in 1921, the peak
Early peaked in 1921, when 99 babies were given it (85 boys, #709 among boys’ names). The 10 births of 2025 are 10% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 | #7,813 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 10 | #7,916 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 5 | #12,650 | under 0.01 |
| 2019 | 7 | #10,023 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 6 | #11,096 | under 0.01 |
| 2015 | 13 | #6,422 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 8 | #9,216 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 5 | #13,078 | under 0.01 |
| 2007 | 6 | #11,319 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 5 | #11,861 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (128)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 5 | #11,377 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 5 | #11,171 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 11 | #6,021 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 5 | #9,404 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 7 | #7,219 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 8 | #6,289 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 11 | #4,853 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 13 | #4,234 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 8 | #5,785 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 8 | #5,332 | under 0.01 |
| 1987 | 8 | #5,091 | under 0.01 |
| 1986 | 9 | #4,571 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 13 | #3,462 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 5 | #6,599 | under 0.01 |
| 1983 | 7 | #5,070 | under 0.01 |
| 1982 | 12 | #3,537 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 14 | #3,083 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 6 | #5,725 | under 0.01 |
| 1979 | 12 | #3,413 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 14 | #2,964 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 16 | #2,690 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 11 | #3,330 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 7 | #4,462 | under 0.01 |
| 1974 | 21 | #2,069 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 14 | #2,634 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 12 | #2,867 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 14 | #2,594 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 26 | #1,716 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 8 | #3,396 | under 0.01 |
| 1968 | 17 | #1,979 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 17 | #1,923 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 23 | #1,623 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 22 | #1,681 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 12 | #2,452 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 20 | #1,808 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 27 | #1,523 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 32 | #1,412 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 31 | #1,440 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 30 | #1,447 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 34 | #1,322 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 36 | #1,302 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 25 | #1,576 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 40 | #1,187 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 48 | #1,085 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 45 | #1,092 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 48 | #1,047 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 47 | #1,041 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 43 | #1,077 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 57 | #913 | 0.03 |
| 1948 | 51 | #976 | 0.03 |
| 1947 | 57 | #923 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 44 | #1,033 | 0.03 |
| 1945 | 49 | #918 | 0.04 |
| 1944 | 60 | #810 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 60 | #859 | 0.04 |
| 1942 | 54 | #901 | 0.04 |
| 1941 | 42 | #992 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 44 | #970 | 0.04 |
| 1939 | 40 | #1,009 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 55 | #840 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 55 | #825 | 0.05 |
| 1936 | 52 | #844 | 0.05 |
| 1935 | 43 | #971 | 0.04 |
| 1934 | 59 | #814 | 0.06 |
| 1933 | 59 | #801 | 0.06 |
| 1932 | 52 | #895 | 0.05 |
| 1931 | 44 | #1,001 | 0.04 |
| 1930 | 57 | #876 | 0.05 |
| 1929 | 71 | #758 | 0.07 |
| 1928 | 63 | #829 | 0.06 |
| 1927 | 88 | #692 | 0.08 |
| 1926 | 76 | #733 | 0.07 |
| 1925 | 77 | #748 | 0.07 |
| 1924 | 81 | #738 | 0.07 |
| 1923 | 75 | #759 | 0.07 |
| 1922 | 82 | #724 | 0.08 |
| 1921 | 85 | #709 | 0.08 |
| 1920 | 76 | #757 | 0.07 |
| 1919 | 87 | #665 | 0.09 |
| 1918 | 76 | #740 | 0.07 |
| 1917 | 83 | #656 | 0.09 |
| 1916 | 65 | #761 | 0.07 |
| 1915 | 71 | #694 | 0.08 |
| 1914 | 55 | #689 | 0.08 |
| 1913 | 50 | #632 | 0.10 |
| 1912 | 37 | #705 | 0.09 |
| 1911 | 30 | #551 | 0.13 |
| 1910 | 33 | #482 | 0.17 |
| 1909 | 33 | #438 | 0.20 |
| 1908 | 23 | #526 | 0.15 |
| 1907 | 30 | #419 | 0.20 |
| 1906 | 21 | #492 | 0.16 |
| 1905 | 18 | #552 | 0.14 |
| 1904 | 24 | #437 | 0.19 |
| 1903 | 23 | #417 | 0.19 |
| 1902 | 22 | #443 | 0.18 |
| 1901 | 21 | #411 | 0.20 |
| 1900 | 29 | #419 | 0.19 |
| 1899 | 25 | #366 | 0.24 |
| 1898 | 26 | #385 | 0.21 |
| 1897 | 33 | #323 | 0.29 |
| 1896 | 19 | #468 | 0.16 |
| 1895 | 24 | #391 | 0.20 |
| 1894 | 22 | #400 | 0.19 |
| 1893 | 14 | #515 | 0.12 |
| 1892 | 16 | #500 | 0.13 |
| 1891 | 19 | #402 | 0.19 |
| 1890 | 23 | #371 | 0.21 |
| 1889 | 20 | #407 | 0.18 |
| 1888 | 18 | #448 | 0.15 |
| 1887 | 15 | #439 | 0.15 |
| 1886 | 17 | #436 | 0.15 |
| 1885 | 15 | #485 | 0.14 |
| 1884 | 14 | #508 | 0.12 |
| 1883 | 15 | #464 | 0.14 |
| 1882 | 10 | #616 | 0.09 |
| 1881 | 12 | #512 | 0.12 |
| 1880 | 11 | #580 | 0.10 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Early a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 4,362 Americans recorded as Early, 9% are girls and 91% boys. In 2025 it went to 10 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Early: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Early, and how old are they?
1,190 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 27% of the 4,362 Americans ever recorded as Early. The median Early alive today is 69 years old; half are between 52 and 78.
The 2020 Census counted 1,159 people named Early (203 women and girls, 956 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,440 born in the U.S. The Census count is 20% 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 | 215 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 535 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 210 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 121 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 44 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 57 |
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 Early born?
The states with the most babies named Early are Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina, with 57% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Alabama is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | 405 | not ranked | 4.3× |
| Georgia | 376 | not ranked | 3.4× |
| North Carolina | 269 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Mississippi | 252 | not ranked | 3.5× |
| Virginia | 169 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Texas | 134 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Louisiana | 84 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| South Carolina | 44 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Arkansas | 41 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Florida | 40 | not ranked | 0.6× |
Where Early is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Early is most over-represented in Alabama: since 1910 it was given 4.3 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 Early 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 5 names spelled alike, given to 21,180 babies since 1880, Early is the second most given (21% of them).
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 Early
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 Early and names like it
- Compare Early and EarleBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sEarly peaked in 1921.
- Alabama’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Early since 1910.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Early.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Early alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with EMost given first.