Boys' name · since 1880

Guy

Since 1880, U.S. Social Security records show 90,632 babies named Guy, peaking in 1957. See the year-by-year trend, decade totals, and state rankings below, sourced from federal birth data.

#335 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#1,634 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
90,632
born since 1880
1950s
peak decade

90,632 babies have been named Guy since 1880, making it today's #1634 boys' name.

Social Security Administration records show Guy recorded 90,632 times among boys since 1880, holding rank #1634 nationally today, ahead of 88% of boys, peaking in the 1950s. This profile derives year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #335 of 45,481 all-time among boys
  • #1,634 of 13,930 2025 SSA year
  • 90,632 born since 1880
  • 1950s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Guy ranks #335 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #1,634 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. 90,632 born since 1880, peaking in the 1950s.

#335 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#1,634 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
90,632
born since 1880
1950s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%88.2%
Guy vs. every other boys name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Guy's 90,632 recorded births place it above 99.26% of the 45,481 boys names in the full SSA archive.

51 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by New York.

How Guy compares

90,632 Top 3% higher than 97% of 13,930 names currently given to boys

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked boys names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Guy's all-time total is 246x the median boys name, and Liam still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Guy Median boys name (Takari) #1 boys name (Liam)
All-time total births 90,632 369 358,536
Peak-year births 2,302 34 22,252

Guy's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Guy splits its recorded history at 1953: 51% of all births land in the more recent half, 49% in the earlier half, an evenly balanced pattern over time. The single quietest year was 2025 (103 births) -- compare that against the 1957 peak of 2,302 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.

Guy popularity over time - boys

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Outside the top 1,000
Peak year (1957)
2,302
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
05001,0001,5002,0002,500 188018991918193719561975199420132025 103

Guy popularity over time - girls

470 total births recorded since 1890 (Guy as girls' name)

Unisex variant - 470 births
05101520 189019181926193419431951196019741982 5

Guy by decade

1950s is the heaviest window (19,158 births, 21% of the file).

1950s was Guy's strongest decade.

19,158 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 21% of all-time use.

Guy births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1950s at 19,158 births (21% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Guy compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 boys names closest to Guy's total volume

Guy vs 15 similarly-sized boys names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%2%4%6%8% 050100150200 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -128, 3.1%-146, 2.1%-90, 7%-114, 4.4%-146, 1.9%-119, 3.8%-36, 7%-113, 5.6%-130, 5.2%-146, 3%-145, 6.2%-60, 7.1%-122, 1.7%-146, 1.8%-146, 2.1%Guy-146, 2.5%Guy
Guy vs 15 similarly-sized boys names

Guy by state

Where Guy concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Guy
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 New York
6,844 7.6%
#2 California
6,658 7.3%
#3 Pennsylvania
5,116 5.6%
#4 Texas
4,993 5.5%
#5 Illinois
3,911 4.3%
#6 Ohio
3,437 3.8%
#7 Michigan
2,942 3.2%
#8 New Jersey
2,389 2.6%
New York share of Guy's total US births 7.6%
Even split

6,844 of 90,632 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Guy appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Guy?
90,632 babies have been named Guy since 1880. All-time, it sits at #335 of 45,481 boys' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #1,634 of 13,930 among boys. The peak year was 1957 with 2,302 births.
Where does Guy sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Guy ranks #335 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #1,634 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Guy most popular?
Guy was most popular in the 1950s decade with 19,158 total births. The single peak year was 1957.
Where is Guy most popular?
The top states for the name Guy are New York (6,844 births), California (6,658 births), Pennsylvania (5,116 births).
How long has the name Guy been used?
Records for Guy go back to 1880, giving 146 years of history through 2025.
What names are similar to Guy?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Guyton, Guye, Guyon, Guymon. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

What to do with Guy's data

  • Guy's decade-level peak was the 1950s (19,158 total births); usage has since declined to 701 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • New York records the most Guys (6,844 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. New York names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Guy

Nearby Names Like Guy

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Guy

Names with a similar popularity rank to Guy

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Guy: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1880–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Guy draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.