Perry
Perry is given to both girls and boys: 83 girls and 135 boys were given it in 2025 (#2,233 among girls’ names and #1,373 among boys’, #2,095 among all names counting both); 79,735 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 47,500 Americans named Perry and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (60% of everyone recorded); the median is 62 years old and half are between 41 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Perry by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Perry mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Perry is “a unisex given name transferred from the surname.”
Also “a diminutive of the unisex given name Peregrine.”
/ˈpɛɹi/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Perry?
#1,373 among boys’ names, 2025
Perry fell from #1,280 in 2015 to #1,373 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 73.0 to 79.0 per million.
2,786 babies in 1959, the peak
Perry peaked in 1959, when 2,786 babies were given it (2,751 boys, #132 among boys’ names). The 218 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 8% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 135 | #1,373 | 0.08 |
| 2024 | 161 | #1,240 | 0.09 |
| 2023 | 136 | #1,377 | 0.08 |
| 2022 | 137 | #1,373 | 0.08 |
| 2021 | 145 | #1,302 | 0.08 |
| 2020 | 146 | #1,261 | 0.08 |
| 2019 | 133 | #1,352 | 0.07 |
| 2018 | 135 | #1,338 | 0.07 |
| 2017 | 147 | #1,248 | 0.08 |
| 2016 | 122 | #1,430 | 0.06 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 140 | #1,280 | 0.07 |
| 2014 | 151 | #1,216 | 0.08 |
| 2013 | 139 | #1,259 | 0.07 |
| 2012 | 144 | #1,233 | 0.08 |
| 2011 | 149 | #1,192 | 0.08 |
| 2010 | 131 | #1,315 | 0.07 |
| 2009 | 163 | #1,133 | 0.08 |
| 2008 | 166 | #1,109 | 0.08 |
| 2007 | 184 | #1,026 | 0.09 |
| 2006 | 195 | #957 | 0.09 |
| 2005 | 193 | #915 | 0.10 |
| 2004 | 226 | #799 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 217 | #800 | 0.11 |
| 2002 | 231 | #750 | 0.12 |
| 2001 | 245 | #718 | 0.13 |
| 2000 | 263 | #678 | 0.13 |
| 1999 | 262 | #660 | 0.14 |
| 1998 | 296 | #620 | 0.15 |
| 1997 | 319 | #580 | 0.17 |
| 1996 | 316 | #576 | 0.17 |
| 1995 | 342 | #549 | 0.18 |
| 1994 | 370 | #530 | 0.19 |
| 1993 | 409 | #506 | 0.21 |
| 1992 | 386 | #516 | 0.19 |
| 1991 | 429 | #475 | 0.21 |
| 1990 | 473 | #454 | 0.23 |
| 1989 | 463 | #437 | 0.23 |
| 1988 | 456 | #424 | 0.24 |
| 1987 | 483 | #392 | 0.26 |
| 1986 | 474 | #387 | 0.26 |
| 1985 | 521 | #354 | 0.28 |
| 1984 | 421 | #402 | 0.23 |
| 1983 | 445 | #380 | 0.25 |
| 1982 | 426 | #394 | 0.23 |
| 1981 | 472 | #372 | 0.26 |
| 1980 | 443 | #387 | 0.25 |
| 1979 | 455 | #377 | 0.26 |
| 1978 | 417 | #378 | 0.25 |
| 1977 | 380 | #401 | 0.23 |
| 1976 | 458 | #356 | 0.29 |
| 1975 | 488 | #350 | 0.31 |
| 1974 | 528 | #332 | 0.34 |
| 1973 | 506 | #336 | 0.32 |
| 1972 | 542 | #330 | 0.33 |
| 1971 | 732 | #285 | 0.41 |
| 1970 | 845 | #263 | 0.45 |
| 1969 | 895 | #243 | 0.50 |
| 1968 | 891 | #239 | 0.51 |
| 1967 | 1,014 | #220 | 0.58 |
| 1966 | 1,121 | #207 | 0.63 |
| 1965 | 1,364 | #186 | 0.73 |
| 1964 | 1,549 | #178 | 0.78 |
| 1963 | 1,712 | #171 | 0.84 |
| 1962 | 1,931 | #164 | 0.93 |
| 1961 | 2,229 | #154 | 1.0 |
| 1960 | 2,415 | #146 | 1.1 |
| 1959 | 2,751 | #132 | 1.3 |
| 1958 | 2,734 | #132 | 1.3 |
| 1957 | 2,369 | #145 | 1.1 |
| 1956 | 1,867 | #163 | 0.88 |
| 1955 | 1,451 | #183 | 0.70 |
| 1954 | 1,254 | #199 | 0.62 |
| 1953 | 1,227 | #199 | 0.62 |
| 1952 | 1,153 | #196 | 0.59 |
| 1951 | 1,176 | #192 | 0.62 |
| 1950 | 1,096 | #193 | 0.61 |
| 1949 | 1,058 | #195 | 0.60 |
| 1948 | 981 | #200 | 0.56 |
| 1947 | 1,053 | #194 | 0.58 |
| 1946 | 856 | #201 | 0.53 |
| 1945 | 683 | #208 | 0.51 |
| 1944 | 605 | #228 | 0.44 |
| 1943 | 690 | #212 | 0.48 |
| 1942 | 706 | #212 | 0.51 |
| 1941 | 593 | #221 | 0.48 |
| 1940 | 553 | #225 | 0.48 |
| 1939 | 584 | #211 | 0.53 |
| 1938 | 579 | #213 | 0.52 |
| 1937 | 544 | #219 | 0.51 |
| 1936 | 504 | #225 | 0.49 |
| 1935 | 517 | #227 | 0.50 |
| 1934 | 545 | #221 | 0.53 |
| 1933 | 486 | #236 | 0.49 |
| 1932 | 528 | #227 | 0.51 |
| 1931 | 543 | #225 | 0.52 |
| 1930 | 581 | #221 | 0.53 |
| 1929 | 576 | #223 | 0.54 |
| 1928 | 633 | #213 | 0.57 |
| 1927 | 584 | #227 | 0.52 |
| 1926 | 565 | #235 | 0.51 |
| 1925 | 568 | #231 | 0.51 |
| 1924 | 602 | #224 | 0.53 |
| 1923 | 588 | #222 | 0.54 |
| 1922 | 615 | #215 | 0.57 |
| 1921 | 565 | #235 | 0.51 |
| 1920 | 542 | #233 | 0.51 |
| 1919 | 528 | #229 | 0.54 |
| 1918 | 553 | #226 | 0.55 |
| 1917 | 527 | #215 | 0.57 |
| 1916 | 439 | #240 | 0.49 |
| 1915 | 478 | #218 | 0.56 |
| 1914 | 338 | #230 | 0.52 |
| 1913 | 280 | #223 | 0.55 |
| 1912 | 216 | #241 | 0.50 |
| 1911 | 152 | #200 | 0.67 |
| 1910 | 125 | #207 | 0.64 |
| 1909 | 109 | #200 | 0.66 |
| 1908 | 133 | #172 | 0.86 |
| 1907 | 86 | #221 | 0.59 |
| 1906 | 97 | #187 | 0.73 |
| 1905 | 104 | #180 | 0.79 |
| 1904 | 93 | #192 | 0.73 |
| 1903 | 88 | #186 | 0.74 |
| 1902 | 108 | #165 | 0.88 |
| 1901 | 87 | #170 | 0.82 |
| 1900 | 142 | #148 | 0.94 |
| 1899 | 104 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1898 | 83 | #188 | 0.68 |
| 1897 | 103 | #153 | 0.91 |
| 1896 | 111 | #148 | 0.93 |
| 1895 | 97 | #160 | 0.83 |
| 1894 | 78 | #191 | 0.67 |
| 1893 | 91 | #160 | 0.81 |
| 1892 | 110 | #146 | 0.90 |
| 1891 | 104 | #134 | 1.0 |
| 1890 | 108 | #134 | 1.0 |
| 1889 | 105 | #138 | 0.95 |
| 1888 | 124 | #126 | 1.0 |
| 1887 | 112 | #118 | 1.1 |
| 1886 | 141 | #110 | 1.3 |
| 1885 | 115 | #120 | 1.1 |
| 1884 | 135 | #111 | 1.2 |
| 1883 | 133 | #102 | 1.3 |
| 1882 | 133 | #112 | 1.2 |
| 1881 | 123 | #102 | 1.2 |
| 1880 | 134 | #101 | 1.2 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Perry a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 79,735 Americans recorded as Perry, 5% are girls and 95% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Perry: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Perry, and how old are they?
47,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 60% of the 79,735 Americans ever recorded as Perry. The median Perry alive today is 62 years old; half are between 41 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 46,765 people named Perry (2,305 women and girls, 44,460 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 51,077 born in the U.S. The Census count is 8% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 2,240 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 21,600 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 9,870 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 6,930 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,810 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 3,000 |
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 Perry born?
The states with the most babies named Perry are Texas, California and New York, with 20% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 5,146 | #2,493 | 1.0× |
| California | 4,565 | #2,157 | 0.7× |
| New York | 4,043 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| North Carolina | 3,328 | not ranked | 1.5× |
| Illinois | 3,297 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Georgia | 3,189 | #1,498 | 1.5× |
| Ohio | 3,163 | #1,223 | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 2,903 | #1,072 | 0.6× |
| Louisiana | 2,652 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| Michigan | 2,493 | #885 | 0.8× |
Where Perry is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Perry is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 1.9 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 Perry 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 Perry
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 Perry and names like it
- Compare Perry and LenBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sPerry peaked in 1959.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Perry since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Perry: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1959The year the most babies were named Perry.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Perry alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with PMost given first.