Recorded 1880–2023 Boys' name Peak 1916 1,943 births

Mortimer — boys' name

1,943 babies named Mortimer in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1916. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s991890s931900s971910s6451920s6031930s1871940s751950s591960s391970s172010s102020s19
1910s
Peak decade

33% of everyone ever named Mortimer was born in this single decade.

1916
Single peak year

91 babies were named Mortimer in 1916 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Mortimer

The Social Security Administration has registered 1,943 babies named Mortimer between 1880 and 2023, spanning 144 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Mortimer currently falls outside the top 1,000 boys' names for 2023. The name reached its historical peak in 1916, when 91 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Mortimer performed strongest in the 1910s, accumulating 645 births during that ten-year window. Across the 12 decades of recorded activity, Mortimer shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 786 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by New Jersey and Illinois. In total, SSA state-level files list Mortimer in 7 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Mortimer in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 1,943 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Mortimer at a glance

Last recorded 2023

Total births

1,943

Since 1880

144 years of records

Peak year

1916

91 births that year

Strongest decade: 1910s

Current rank

Unranked

Outside the modern top-1,000

As of 2023

Active since

1880

Recorded for 144 years

Last year on file: 2023

Mortimer popularity over time

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2023–1880

Last recorded 2023
Peak year (1916)
91
Annual births at peak — across 144 years of records
020406080100 202319621946193419221910189818841880 12

Mortimer by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1910s
Peak decade
1910s
645 births that decade — 33% of Mortimer's all-time total
1880s991890s931900s971910s6451920s6031930s1871940s751950s591960s391970s172010s102020s19

Mortimer by state

Where Mortimer concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Regionally concentrated
Top 7 states by recorded births for the name Mortimer
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 New York
786 40.5%
#2 New Jersey
62 3.2%
#3 Illinois
15 0.8%
#4 Massachusetts
15 0.8%
#5 Connecticut
10 0.5%
#6 Pennsylvania
5 0.3%
#7 Wisconsin
5 0.3%
New York share of Mortimer's total US births 40.5%
Even split

786 of 1,943 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 7 reporting states.

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Mortimer?
1,943 babies have been named Mortimer since 1880. It was last recorded in 2023. The peak year was 1916 with 91 births.
When was Mortimer most popular?
Mortimer was most popular in the 1910s decade with 645 total births. The single peak year was 1916.
Where is Mortimer most popular?
The top states for the name Mortimer are New York (786 births), New Jersey (62 births), Illinois (15 births).
How long has the name Mortimer been used?
Mortimer has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 144 years of data through 2023.
What names are similar to Mortimer?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Morris, Morgan, Morton, Mordechai, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

Keep exploring Mortimer

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Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2023 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.