Franklin
Franklin was given to 909 boys in 2025, #359 among boys’ names; 142,506 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 73,600 Americans named Franklin and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (52% of everyone recorded); the median is 54 years old and half are between 30 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Franklin by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Franklin mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Franklin is “a male given name transferred from the surname, partly in honor of Benjamin Franklin.” Its etymology gives the sense “freeholder” (frankelein).
From Middle English frankelein (“freeholder”), see franklin. The place names are mostly named after American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790).
/ˈfɹæŋklɪn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Franklin?
#359 among boys’ names, 2025
Franklin rose from #445 in 2015 to #359 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.36 to 0.53 per 1,000.
5,387 babies in 1933, the peak
Franklin peaked in 1933, when 5,387 babies were given it (5,363 boys, #33 among boys’ names). The 909 births of 2025 are 17% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 909 | #359 | 0.53 |
| 2024 | 841 | #388 | 0.49 |
| 2023 | 784 | #408 | 0.46 |
| 2022 | 788 | #407 | 0.45 |
| 2021 | 801 | #395 | 0.46 |
| 2020 | 718 | #414 | 0.42 |
| 2019 | 739 | #422 | 0.41 |
| 2018 | 693 | #436 | 0.38 |
| 2017 | 710 | #437 | 0.38 |
| 2016 | 745 | #423 | 0.39 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 690 | #445 | 0.36 |
| 2014 | 664 | #449 | 0.35 |
| 2013 | 551 | #497 | 0.29 |
| 2012 | 495 | #529 | 0.26 |
| 2011 | 520 | #500 | 0.27 |
| 2010 | 510 | #505 | 0.27 |
| 2009 | 511 | #529 | 0.26 |
| 2008 | 589 | #469 | 0.29 |
| 2007 | 580 | #469 | 0.28 |
| 2006 | 622 | #438 | 0.30 |
| 2005 | 567 | #451 | 0.28 |
| 2004 | 508 | #488 | 0.26 |
| 2003 | 539 | #466 | 0.27 |
| 2002 | 507 | #470 | 0.26 |
| 2001 | 534 | #452 | 0.27 |
| 2000 | 530 | #448 | 0.27 |
| 1999 | 573 | #411 | 0.30 |
| 1998 | 636 | #389 | 0.33 |
| 1997 | 590 | #398 | 0.31 |
| 1996 | 694 | #351 | 0.37 |
| 1995 | 662 | #363 | 0.35 |
| 1994 | 702 | #350 | 0.36 |
| 1993 | 703 | #345 | 0.36 |
| 1992 | 849 | #310 | 0.43 |
| 1991 | 860 | #298 | 0.43 |
| 1990 | 852 | #296 | 0.41 |
| 1989 | 898 | #277 | 0.45 |
| 1988 | 831 | #280 | 0.43 |
| 1987 | 808 | #270 | 0.43 |
| 1986 | 786 | #272 | 0.43 |
| 1985 | 812 | #264 | 0.44 |
| 1984 | 797 | #262 | 0.44 |
| 1983 | 742 | #278 | 0.41 |
| 1982 | 857 | #258 | 0.47 |
| 1981 | 814 | #268 | 0.45 |
| 1980 | 879 | #253 | 0.49 |
| 1979 | 857 | #248 | 0.50 |
| 1978 | 837 | #248 | 0.51 |
| 1977 | 860 | #240 | 0.52 |
| 1976 | 804 | #247 | 0.51 |
| 1975 | 864 | #238 | 0.55 |
| 1974 | 913 | #229 | 0.58 |
| 1973 | 944 | #227 | 0.61 |
| 1972 | 928 | #231 | 0.57 |
| 1971 | 1,126 | #208 | 0.64 |
| 1970 | 1,219 | #208 | 0.66 |
| 1969 | 1,224 | #204 | 0.68 |
| 1968 | 1,182 | #198 | 0.68 |
| 1967 | 1,200 | #194 | 0.69 |
| 1966 | 1,304 | #188 | 0.73 |
| 1965 | 1,368 | #185 | 0.74 |
| 1964 | 1,498 | #189 | 0.75 |
| 1963 | 1,522 | #195 | 0.75 |
| 1962 | 1,530 | #199 | 0.74 |
| 1961 | 1,527 | #195 | 0.72 |
| 1960 | 1,537 | #194 | 0.72 |
| 1959 | 1,553 | #190 | 0.73 |
| 1958 | 1,587 | #182 | 0.75 |
| 1957 | 1,688 | #180 | 0.78 |
| 1956 | 1,793 | #167 | 0.85 |
| 1955 | 1,764 | #163 | 0.86 |
| 1954 | 1,822 | #157 | 0.89 |
| 1953 | 1,759 | #158 | 0.89 |
| 1952 | 1,722 | #159 | 0.89 |
| 1951 | 1,695 | #152 | 0.90 |
| 1950 | 1,624 | #153 | 0.91 |
| 1949 | 1,621 | #155 | 0.91 |
| 1948 | 1,551 | #159 | 0.88 |
| 1947 | 1,772 | #152 | 1.0 |
| 1946 | 1,721 | #140 | 1.1 |
| 1945 | 1,896 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1944 | 1,817 | #121 | 1.3 |
| 1943 | 1,973 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1942 | 2,365 | #103 | 1.7 |
| 1941 | 2,205 | #98 | 1.8 |
| 1940 | 2,391 | #87 | 2.1 |
| 1939 | 1,856 | #106 | 1.7 |
| 1938 | 2,021 | #100 | 1.8 |
| 1937 | 2,514 | #77 | 2.4 |
| 1936 | 2,939 | #64 | 2.8 |
| 1935 | 2,611 | #71 | 2.5 |
| 1934 | 4,156 | #46 | 4.0 |
| 1933 | 5,363 | #33 | 5.4 |
| 1932 | 2,754 | #66 | 2.6 |
| 1931 | 1,089 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1930 | 1,078 | #149 | 1.0 |
| 1929 | 1,061 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1928 | 1,103 | #146 | 1.0 |
| 1927 | 1,183 | #144 | 1.0 |
| 1926 | 1,202 | #142 | 1.1 |
| 1925 | 1,294 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1924 | 1,284 | #134 | 1.1 |
| 1923 | 1,264 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1922 | 1,317 | #126 | 1.2 |
| 1921 | 1,350 | #126 | 1.2 |
| 1920 | 1,451 | #119 | 1.4 |
| 1919 | 1,206 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1918 | 1,275 | #129 | 1.3 |
| 1917 | 1,194 | #124 | 1.3 |
| 1916 | 1,073 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1915 | 1,001 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1914 | 770 | #134 | 1.2 |
| 1913 | 593 | #132 | 1.2 |
| 1912 | 497 | #129 | 1.2 |
| 1911 | 220 | #152 | 1.0 |
| 1910 | 176 | #170 | 0.91 |
| 1909 | 168 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1908 | 133 | #171 | 0.86 |
| 1907 | 122 | #177 | 0.83 |
| 1906 | 125 | #156 | 0.94 |
| 1905 | 98 | #187 | 0.74 |
| 1904 | 108 | #169 | 0.84 |
| 1903 | 116 | #155 | 1.0 |
| 1902 | 97 | #176 | 0.79 |
| 1901 | 92 | #163 | 0.86 |
| 1900 | 137 | #151 | 0.91 |
| 1899 | 116 | #138 | 1.1 |
| 1898 | 112 | #152 | 0.91 |
| 1897 | 68 | #208 | 0.60 |
| 1896 | 96 | #167 | 0.80 |
| 1895 | 103 | #150 | 0.88 |
| 1894 | 84 | #180 | 0.73 |
| 1893 | 99 | #150 | 0.88 |
| 1892 | 109 | #147 | 0.89 |
| 1891 | 109 | #125 | 1.1 |
| 1890 | 90 | #157 | 0.81 |
| 1889 | 100 | #148 | 0.90 |
| 1888 | 129 | #123 | 1.1 |
| 1887 | 89 | #143 | 0.88 |
| 1886 | 127 | #117 | 1.1 |
| 1885 | 117 | #118 | 1.1 |
| 1884 | 93 | #147 | 0.81 |
| 1883 | 94 | #131 | 0.90 |
| 1882 | 112 | #125 | 1.0 |
| 1881 | 117 | #107 | 1.2 |
| 1880 | 120 | #112 | 1.1 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Franklin a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Franklin has been given almost only to boys: 778 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Franklin: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Franklin, and how old are they?
73,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 52% of the 142,506 Americans ever recorded as Franklin. The median Franklin alive today is 54 years old; half are between 30 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 78,051 people named Franklin (253 women and girls, 77,798 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 79,559 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 7,930 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 20,700 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 14,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 12,100 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 8,670 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 9,640 |
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 Franklin born?
The states with the most babies named Franklin are New York, Pennsylvania and California, with 18% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 8,799 | #430 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 8,677 | #372 | 1.0× |
| California | 7,355 | #455 | 0.7× |
| North Carolina | 7,031 | #290 | 1.6× |
| Ohio | 6,939 | #255 | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 6,378 | #506 | 1.6× |
| Texas | 6,334 | #524 | 0.7× |
| Virginia | 5,910 | #355 | 1.8× |
| South Carolina | 5,025 | #418 | 2.1× |
| Illinois | 4,849 | #283 | 0.7× |
Where Franklin is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Franklin is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 2.4 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 Franklin 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 3 names spelled alike, given to 148,760 babies since 1880, Franklin is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 909 of their 943 babies (96%), 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 Franklin
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1880-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Myron | 45,832 |
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 Franklin and names like it
- Compare Franklin and FranklynBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sFranklin peaked in 1933.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Franklin since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Franklin: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1933The year the most babies were named Franklin.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Franklin alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with FMost given first.