Needham
Needham was last recorded in 1962, when 5 babies were given it; 328 Americans have been recorded with it between 1884 and 1962 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Needham by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Needham?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #4,460, in 1962; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
15 babies in 1923, the peak
Needham peaked in 1923, when 15 boys were given it, #2,197 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | 5 | #4,460 | 2.4 |
| 1958 | 5 | #4,339 | 2.4 |
| 1956 | 7 | #3,436 | 3.3 |
| 1954 | 5 | #4,190 | 2.5 |
| 1953 | 7 | #3,336 | 3.5 |
| 1952 | 8 | #3,029 | 4.1 |
| 1949 | 8 | #2,948 | 4.5 |
| 1948 | 5 | #4,029 | 2.8 |
| 1946 | 6 | #3,415 | 3.7 |
| 1943 | 10 | #2,510 | 7.0 |
Every recorded year (42)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | 8 | #2,876 | 5.8 |
| 1941 | 6 | #3,392 | 4.9 |
| 1940 | 5 | #3,797 | 4.3 |
| 1939 | 6 | #3,371 | 5.4 |
| 1937 | 5 | #3,874 | 4.7 |
| 1936 | 6 | #3,426 | 5.8 |
| 1935 | 5 | #4,005 | 4.8 |
| 1933 | 7 | #3,196 | 7.1 |
| 1932 | 10 | #2,582 | 9.6 |
| 1930 | 9 | #2,937 | 8.2 |
| 1929 | 6 | #3,826 | 5.6 |
| 1928 | 9 | #2,999 | 8.1 |
| 1927 | 15 | #2,170 | 13.3 |
| 1926 | 12 | #2,517 | 10.8 |
| 1925 | 6 | #4,053 | 5.4 |
| 1924 | 13 | #2,436 | 11.5 |
| 1923 | 15 | #2,197 | 13.7 |
| 1922 | 13 | #2,440 | 11.9 |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,586 | 10.9 |
| 1920 | 6 | #4,132 | 5.6 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,616 | 11.2 |
| 1918 | 9 | #3,028 | 8.9 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,123 | 8.6 |
| 1916 | 8 | #3,104 | 9.0 |
| 1915 | 7 | #3,287 | 8.2 |
| 1914 | 8 | #2,582 | 12.2 |
| 1913 | 6 | #2,700 | 11.7 |
| 1898 | 5 | #1,248 | 40.8 |
| 1895 | 5 | #1,200 | 42.6 |
| 1893 | 6 | #994 | 53.4 |
| 1890 | 10 | #654 | 90.1 |
| 1884 | 5 | #1,078 | 43.7 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Needham a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Needham has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 42 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Needham: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Needham, and how old are they?
An estimated 51 Americans named Needham and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026, too few to state an age range. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 150 people named Needham (1 woman or girl, 149 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 73 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.1 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
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).
More about Needham and names like it
- The most given names of the 1920sNeedham peaked in 1923.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Needham since 1910.
- The top names of 1923The year the most babies were named Needham.
- Names starting with NMost given first.