Percy
Percy was given to 154 boys in 2025, #1,279 among boys’ names; 32,840 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 11,100 Americans named Percy and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (34% of everyone recorded); the median is 61 years old and half are between 40 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Percy by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Percy mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Percy is “a male given name transferred from the surname or from a clipping of Percival, of Middle Ages and later usage.” Its etymology gives the senses “a baronial surname” (Percy) and “Percy in Auge” (literally) and “a Gallo-Roman nomen gentile” (Persius).
Proper noun senses 1 (surname) and 3 (place names) are derived from Norman Percy (“a baronial surname”), from Percy-en-Auge (“a place in Pays d’Auge, Normandy, France”, literally “Percy in Auge”), from Old French Perci, from Late Latin Persiacum, from Latin Persius (“a Gallo-Roman nomen gentile”), from Etruscan 𐌐𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (persu); further etymology uncertain, possibly from 𐌘𐌄𐌓𐌔𐌖 (φersu, “mask”). Proper noun sense 2 (given name) is either from the above, or is a clipping of Perc(ival) + -y (suffix forming familiar names). The common noun is derived from the proper noun. Sense 2 (“penis”) is probably from the fact that Percy and penis begin with the same letter.
/ˈpɜɹsi/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Percy?
#1,279 among boys’ names, 2025
Percy rose from #2,290 in 2015 to #1,279 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 30.3 to 90.2 per million.
618 babies in 1921, the peak
Percy peaked in 1921, when 618 babies were given it (603 boys, #220 among boys’ names). The 164 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 27% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 154 | #1,279 | 0.09 |
| 2024 | 157 | #1,260 | 0.09 |
| 2023 | 112 | #1,564 | 0.07 |
| 2022 | 112 | #1,586 | 0.06 |
| 2021 | 87 | #1,813 | 0.05 |
| 2020 | 69 | #2,061 | 0.04 |
| 2019 | 45 | #2,793 | 0.03 |
| 2018 | 63 | #2,204 | 0.03 |
| 2017 | 73 | #1,969 | 0.04 |
| 2016 | 47 | #2,651 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 58 | #2,290 | 0.03 |
| 2014 | 70 | #2,036 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 61 | #2,174 | 0.03 |
| 2012 | 60 | #2,200 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 39 | #2,982 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 41 | #2,905 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 38 | #3,091 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 37 | #3,149 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 57 | #2,296 | 0.03 |
| 2006 | 51 | #2,437 | 0.02 |
| 2005 | 45 | #2,516 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 60 | #2,013 | 0.03 |
| 2003 | 47 | #2,297 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 46 | #2,280 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 59 | #1,883 | 0.03 |
| 2000 | 52 | #1,986 | 0.03 |
| 1999 | 56 | #1,794 | 0.03 |
| 1998 | 61 | #1,691 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 62 | #1,639 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 61 | #1,606 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 65 | #1,482 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 75 | #1,346 | 0.04 |
| 1993 | 71 | #1,372 | 0.04 |
| 1992 | 95 | #1,129 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 88 | #1,182 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 102 | #1,047 | 0.05 |
| 1989 | 98 | #1,050 | 0.05 |
| 1988 | 107 | #926 | 0.06 |
| 1987 | 73 | #1,127 | 0.04 |
| 1986 | 91 | #962 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 96 | #932 | 0.05 |
| 1984 | 98 | #883 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 105 | #857 | 0.06 |
| 1982 | 114 | #832 | 0.06 |
| 1981 | 130 | #768 | 0.07 |
| 1980 | 124 | #788 | 0.07 |
| 1979 | 119 | #797 | 0.07 |
| 1978 | 146 | #694 | 0.09 |
| 1977 | 137 | #729 | 0.08 |
| 1976 | 138 | #714 | 0.09 |
| 1975 | 143 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1974 | 147 | #672 | 0.09 |
| 1973 | 169 | #612 | 0.11 |
| 1972 | 177 | #601 | 0.11 |
| 1971 | 187 | #612 | 0.11 |
| 1970 | 175 | #614 | 0.09 |
| 1969 | 202 | #554 | 0.11 |
| 1968 | 181 | #565 | 0.10 |
| 1967 | 178 | #561 | 0.10 |
| 1966 | 195 | #549 | 0.11 |
| 1965 | 193 | #552 | 0.10 |
| 1964 | 207 | #549 | 0.10 |
| 1963 | 235 | #521 | 0.12 |
| 1962 | 250 | #503 | 0.12 |
| 1961 | 246 | #508 | 0.12 |
| 1960 | 270 | #482 | 0.13 |
| 1959 | 264 | #482 | 0.12 |
| 1958 | 280 | #476 | 0.13 |
| 1957 | 348 | #417 | 0.16 |
| 1956 | 319 | #422 | 0.15 |
| 1955 | 309 | #417 | 0.15 |
| 1954 | 363 | #369 | 0.18 |
| 1953 | 376 | #356 | 0.19 |
| 1952 | 443 | #330 | 0.23 |
| 1951 | 424 | #331 | 0.23 |
| 1950 | 411 | #333 | 0.23 |
| 1949 | 397 | #337 | 0.22 |
| 1948 | 411 | #331 | 0.23 |
| 1947 | 412 | #337 | 0.23 |
| 1946 | 343 | #352 | 0.21 |
| 1945 | 343 | #322 | 0.25 |
| 1944 | 350 | #321 | 0.26 |
| 1943 | 393 | #314 | 0.28 |
| 1942 | 381 | #314 | 0.28 |
| 1941 | 339 | #317 | 0.28 |
| 1940 | 328 | #311 | 0.28 |
| 1939 | 360 | #291 | 0.33 |
| 1938 | 349 | #293 | 0.31 |
| 1937 | 356 | #287 | 0.33 |
| 1936 | 360 | #284 | 0.35 |
| 1935 | 385 | #277 | 0.37 |
| 1934 | 377 | #276 | 0.37 |
| 1933 | 399 | #265 | 0.40 |
| 1932 | 430 | #262 | 0.41 |
| 1931 | 415 | #270 | 0.40 |
| 1930 | 429 | #274 | 0.39 |
| 1929 | 497 | #250 | 0.46 |
| 1928 | 483 | #255 | 0.44 |
| 1927 | 519 | #249 | 0.46 |
| 1926 | 493 | #252 | 0.44 |
| 1925 | 544 | #241 | 0.49 |
| 1924 | 560 | #242 | 0.49 |
| 1923 | 540 | #242 | 0.49 |
| 1922 | 599 | #224 | 0.55 |
| 1921 | 603 | #220 | 0.55 |
| 1920 | 601 | #216 | 0.56 |
| 1919 | 595 | #209 | 0.61 |
| 1918 | 567 | #219 | 0.56 |
| 1917 | 515 | #217 | 0.56 |
| 1916 | 524 | #211 | 0.59 |
| 1915 | 488 | #214 | 0.58 |
| 1914 | 449 | #190 | 0.69 |
| 1913 | 356 | #189 | 0.69 |
| 1912 | 337 | #174 | 0.78 |
| 1911 | 184 | #173 | 0.81 |
| 1910 | 195 | #160 | 1.0 |
| 1909 | 159 | #158 | 1.0 |
| 1908 | 151 | #158 | 1.0 |
| 1907 | 160 | #146 | 1.1 |
| 1906 | 141 | #147 | 1.1 |
| 1905 | 169 | #129 | 1.3 |
| 1904 | 125 | #153 | 1.0 |
| 1903 | 124 | #151 | 1.0 |
| 1902 | 167 | #114 | 1.4 |
| 1901 | 120 | #138 | 1.1 |
| 1900 | 201 | #114 | 1.3 |
| 1899 | 142 | #118 | 1.3 |
| 1898 | 155 | #119 | 1.3 |
| 1897 | 183 | #98 | 1.6 |
| 1896 | 157 | #117 | 1.3 |
| 1895 | 164 | #109 | 1.4 |
| 1894 | 173 | #104 | 1.5 |
| 1893 | 177 | #100 | 1.6 |
| 1892 | 149 | #117 | 1.2 |
| 1891 | 131 | #111 | 1.3 |
| 1890 | 140 | #113 | 1.3 |
| 1889 | 144 | #110 | 1.3 |
| 1888 | 151 | #111 | 1.2 |
| 1887 | 123 | #110 | 1.2 |
| 1886 | 122 | #119 | 1.1 |
| 1885 | 98 | #137 | 0.91 |
| 1884 | 126 | #114 | 1.1 |
| 1883 | 87 | #151 | 0.83 |
| 1882 | 126 | #116 | 1.1 |
| 1881 | 95 | #126 | 0.94 |
| 1880 | 94 | #144 | 0.85 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Percy a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 32,840 Americans recorded as Percy, 2% are girls and 98% boys. In 2025 it went to 10 girls and 154 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Percy: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Percy, and how old are they?
11,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 34% of the 32,840 Americans ever recorded as Percy. The median Percy alive today is 61 years old; half are between 40 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 10,913 people named Percy (345 women and girls, 10,568 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 12,337 born in the U.S. The Census count is 12% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 1,300 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,130 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,320 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,390 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 797 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,170 |
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 Percy born?
The states with the most babies named Percy are Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, with 40% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Mississippi and Louisiana and Alabama are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 4,032 | not ranked | 7.8× |
| Louisiana | 3,300 | #874 | 5.7× |
| Alabama | 1,997 | not ranked | 2.9× |
| North Carolina | 1,844 | #1,243 | 2.0× |
| Virginia | 1,604 | not ranked | 2.4× |
| Texas | 1,243 | #1,398 | 0.7× |
| New York | 1,015 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Illinois | 1,009 | #1,437 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 772 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Tennessee | 766 | #902 | 1.1× |
Where Percy is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Percy is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 7.8 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 Percy 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 4 names spelled alike, given to 34,311 babies since 1880, Percy is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 164 of their 192 babies (85%), 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 Percy
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 Percy and names like it
- Compare Percy and PearceBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sPercy peaked in 1921.
- Mississippi’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Percy since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Percy: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Percy.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Percy alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with PMost given first.