Murphy
Murphy is a unisex name: 783 girls and 341 boys were given it in 2025 (#397 among girls’ names and #754 among boys’, #595 among all names counting both); 13,174 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Girls have outnumbered boys among babies named Murphy every year since 2020.
An estimated 10,300 Americans named Murphy and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (79% of everyone recorded); the median is 8 years old and half are between 3 and 26.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Murphy by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Murphy mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Murphy is “a unisex given name transferred from the surname, of occasional usage.” Its etymology gives the senses “descendant of Murrough” (Murchadha) and “Son of Murrough” (Murchaidh).
From Irish Ó Murchadha (“descendant of Murrough”), Mac Murchaidh (“Son of Murrough”), etc.
/ˈmɜɹfi/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Murphy?
#754 among boys’ names, 2025
Murphy rose from #1,230 in 2015 to #754 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.08 to 0.20 per 1,000.
1,124 babies in 2025, the peak
Murphy peaked in 2025, when 1,124 babies were given it (341 boys, #754 among boys’ names). In 2024 it went to 308 boys.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 783 | #397 | 341 | #754 |
| 2024 | 650 | #476 | 308 | #816 |
| 2023 | 588 | #517 | 258 | #904 |
| 2022 | 443 | #667 | 267 | #887 |
| 2021 | 398 | #719 | 214 | #1,028 |
| 2020 | 261 | #979 | 225 | #967 |
| 2019 | 177 | #1,301 | 185 | #1,083 |
| 2018 | 146 | #1,503 | 165 | #1,163 |
| 2017 | 148 | #1,503 | 165 | #1,151 |
| 2016 | 124 | #1,717 | 163 | #1,174 |
Every recorded year (140)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 88 | #2,161 | 149 | #1,230 |
| 2014 | 42 | #3,698 | 123 | #1,386 |
| 2013 | 31 | #4,609 | 103 | #1,544 |
| 2012 | 25 | #5,510 | 73 | #1,956 |
| 2011 | 26 | #5,314 | 102 | #1,558 |
| 2010 | 30 | #4,824 | 103 | #1,555 |
| 2009 | 24 | #5,838 | 90 | #1,728 |
| 2008 | 34 | #4,520 | 85 | #1,772 |
| 2007 | 20 | #6,736 | 82 | #1,791 |
| 2006 | 35 | #4,232 | 60 | #2,163 |
| 2005 | 32 | #4,332 | 67 | #1,900 |
| 2004 | 27 | #4,903 | 79 | #1,646 |
| 2003 | 34 | #4,002 | 57 | #2,017 |
| 2002 | 25 | #4,852 | 57 | #1,959 |
| 2001 | 19 | #5,997 | 46 | #2,231 |
| 2000 | 21 | #5,438 | 53 | #1,953 |
| 1999 | 29 | #4,042 | 39 | #2,324 |
| 1998 | 31 | #3,797 | 47 | #2,030 |
| 1997 | 25 | #4,330 | 47 | #1,947 |
| 1996 | 29 | #3,791 | 50 | #1,830 |
| 1995 | 33 | #3,398 | 57 | #1,612 |
| 1994 | 29 | #3,753 | 55 | #1,652 |
| 1993 | 27 | #3,952 | 51 | #1,709 |
| 1992 | 57 | #2,301 | 43 | #1,894 |
| 1991 | 44 | #2,719 | 73 | #1,314 |
| 1990 | 33 | #3,330 | 70 | #1,327 |
| 1989 | 29 | #3,533 | 60 | #1,414 |
| 1988 | under 5 | 36 | #1,867 | |
| 1987 | 6 | #10,783 | 26 | #2,246 |
| 1986 | under 5 | 45 | #1,502 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 25 | #2,205 | |
| 1984 | under 5 | 30 | #1,871 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 25 | #2,126 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 28 | #1,972 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 35 | #1,683 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 23 | #2,262 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 46 | #1,384 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 33 | #1,683 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 29 | #1,813 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 37 | #1,487 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 32 | #1,618 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 40 | #1,365 | |
| 1973 | under 5 | 26 | #1,765 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 38 | #1,381 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 39 | #1,369 | |
| 1970 | under 5 | 34 | #1,450 | |
| 1969 | under 5 | 21 | #1,844 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 38 | #1,244 | |
| 1967 | under 5 | 26 | #1,528 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 36 | #1,273 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 37 | #1,265 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 55 | #1,024 | |
| 1963 | under 5 | 53 | #1,042 | |
| 1962 | under 5 | 49 | #1,103 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 38 | #1,295 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 40 | #1,247 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 46 | #1,149 | |
| 1958 | under 5 | 56 | #1,020 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 40 | #1,241 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 66 | #919 | |
| 1955 | under 5 | 59 | #983 | |
| 1954 | under 5 | 62 | #942 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 64 | #900 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 81 | #783 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 61 | #908 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 62 | #875 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 66 | #845 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 57 | #918 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 57 | #929 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 46 | #1,009 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 42 | #990 | |
| 1944 | under 5 | 68 | #759 | |
| 1943 | 5 | #5,158 | 63 | #834 |
| 1942 | under 5 | 58 | #863 | |
| 1941 | under 5 | 60 | #824 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 53 | #869 | |
| 1939 | 5 | #4,742 | 64 | #761 |
| 1938 | under 5 | 69 | #740 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 53 | #842 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 44 | #936 | |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,698 | 60 | #801 |
| 1934 | under 5 | 60 | #805 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 53 | #857 | |
| 1932 | 5 | #4,888 | 81 | #682 |
| 1931 | 7 | #3,745 | 59 | #822 |
| 1930 | 6 | #4,401 | 61 | #837 |
| 1929 | under 5 | 66 | #800 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 52 | #945 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 89 | #689 | |
| 1926 | under 5 | 89 | #674 | |
| 1925 | under 5 | 68 | #806 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 65 | #856 | |
| 1923 | under 5 | 83 | #715 | |
| 1922 | 9 | #3,583 | 78 | #751 |
| 1921 | under 5 | 65 | #861 | |
| 1920 | under 5 | 73 | #779 | |
| 1919 | 7 | #4,128 | 73 | #758 |
| 1918 | 6 | #4,655 | 59 | #864 |
| 1917 | 6 | #4,446 | 73 | #721 |
| 1916 | under 5 | 69 | #732 | |
| 1915 | 6 | #4,102 | 61 | #768 |
| 1914 | 8 | #2,801 | 51 | #739 |
| 1913 | under 5 | 28 | #945 | |
| 1912 | under 5 | 41 | #663 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 18 | #782 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 14 | #848 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 15 | #744 | |
| 1908 | under 5 | 17 | #649 | |
| 1907 | under 5 | 21 | #533 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 17 | #580 | |
| 1905 | under 5 | 17 | #583 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 11 | #749 | |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,985 | 17 | #543 |
| 1902 | under 5 | 7 | #994 | |
| 1901 | under 5 | 9 | #760 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 21 | #524 | |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,878 | 6 | #1,086 |
| 1897 | under 5 | 14 | #575 | |
| 1896 | under 5 | 6 | #1,063 | |
| 1895 | under 5 | 11 | #661 | |
| 1894 | under 5 | 8 | #837 | |
| 1893 | under 5 | 13 | #562 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 16 | #510 | |
| 1891 | under 5 | 6 | #922 | |
| 1890 | under 5 | 6 | #962 | |
| 1888 | under 5 | 5 | #1,127 | |
| 1886 | under 5 | 7 | #816 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 5 | #1,041 | |
| 1883 | under 5 | 7 | #779 | |
| 1881 | under 5 | 6 | #838 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Murphy a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 13,174 Americans recorded as Murphy, 36% are girls and 64% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Murphy: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Murphy, and how old are they?
10,300 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 79% of the 13,174 Americans ever recorded as Murphy. The median Murphy alive today is 8 years old; half are between 3 and 26.
The 2020 Census counted 6,019 people named Murphy (1,685 women and girls, 4,334 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 6,073 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 210 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 691 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 472 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 956 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,500 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 6,510 |
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 Murphy born?
The states with the most babies named Murphy are Texas, Georgia and California, with 19% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 90 | #1,001 | 0.7× |
| Georgia | 55 | #579 | 0.7× |
| California | 53 | #1,186 | 0.4× |
| Ohio | 47 | #553 | 0.5× |
| Tennessee | 45 | #580 | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 43 | #594 | 0.5× |
| Missouri | 43 | #451 | 0.7× |
| Minnesota | 42 | #623 | 0.8× |
| Washington | 39 | #716 | 0.6× |
| Florida | 36 | #1,321 | 0.4× |
Where Murphy is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Murphy is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 6.8 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 Murphy with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Murphy
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 Murphy and names like it
- Compare Murphy and MillerBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sMurphy peaked in 2025.
- Louisiana’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Murphy since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Murphy: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2025The year the most babies were named Murphy.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Murphy alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with MMost given first.