Boys' name · since 1883

Powell

1,485 babies named Powell in U.S. Social Security records since 1883, with the highest year being 1919. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

#3,984 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#8,258 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
1,485
born since 1883
1920s
peak decade

1,485 babies have been named Powell since 1883, making it today's #8258 boys' name.

Powell has 1,485 recorded births among boys since 1883, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #8258 as of the latest data, more common than 41% of boys, busiest in the 1920s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1883 to 2025.

  • #3,984 of 45,481 all-time among boys
  • #8,258 of 13,930 2025 SSA year
  • 1,485 born since 1883
  • 1920s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Powell ranks #3,984 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #8,258 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. 1,485 born since 1883, peaking in the 1920s.

#3,984 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#8,258 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
1,485
born since 1883
1920s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%40.7%
Powell vs. every other boys name in current SSA rankings
Above the archive median
All-time archive position

Powell's 1,485 recorded births place it above 91.24% of the 45,481 boys names in the full SSA archive.

2 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

The state file records this name in 2 jurisdictions, led by Georgia.

How Powell compares

1,485 Top 26% higher than 74% of 13,930 names currently given to boys

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked boys names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Powell's all-time total is 4x the median boys name, and Liam still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Powell Median boys name (Takari) #1 boys name (Liam)
All-time total births 1,485 369 358,536
Peak-year births 32 34 22,252

Powell's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Splitting Powell's full recorded timeline at 1956, 38% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 62% in the earlier half -- the name was more prevalent in its earlier era than it is today. Its quietest year on record was 1883, with just 5 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 1919 peak of 32 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.

Powell popularity over time - boys

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1883–2025

Outside the top 1,000
Peak year (1919)
32
Annual births at peak, across 143 years of records
010203040 188319121928194419601978200120172025 9

Powell popularity over time - girls

6 total births recorded since 2016 (Powell as girls' name)

Unisex variant - 6 births
6 2016 6

Powell by decade

1920s is the heaviest window (208 births, 14% of the file).

1920s was Powell's strongest decade.

208 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 14% of all-time use.

Powell births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1920s at 208 births (14% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Powell compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 boys names closest to Powell's total volume

Powell vs 15 similarly-sized boys names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%5%10%15% 050100150 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -54, 6%-51, 3.9%-35, 5.2%-50, 5.5%-82, 2.6%-76, 4%-110, 2.6%-40, 5.7%-56, 4.5%-41, 5.8%-34, 13%-114, 1.8%-143, 3.9%-38, 10.7%-111, 2.7%Powell-143, 2.2%Powell
Powell vs 15 similarly-sized boys names

Powell by state

Where Powell concentrates geographically, total births since 1883

Geographically diffuse
Top 2 states by recorded births for the name Powell
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 Georgia
12 0.8%
#2 Mississippi
5 0.3%
Georgia share of Powell's total US births 0.8%
Even split

12 of 1,485 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 2 reporting states.

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Powell? ▼
1,485 babies have been named Powell since 1883. All-time, it sits at #3,984 of 45,481 boys' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #8,258 of 13,930 among boys. The peak year was 1919 with 32 births.
Where does Powell sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Powell ranks #3,984 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #8,258 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Powell most popular? ▼
Powell was most popular in the 1920s decade with 208 total births. The single peak year was 1919.
Where is Powell most popular? ▼
The top states for the name Powell are Georgia (12 births), Mississippi (5 births).
How long has the name Powell been used? ▼
Records for Powell go back to 1883, giving 143 years of history through 2025.
What names are similar to Powell? ▼
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Power, Powers. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

What to do with Powell's data

  • Powell's decade-level peak was the 1920s (208 total births); usage has since declined to 59 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • Georgia records the most Powells (12 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. Georgia names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Powell

Nearby Names Like Powell

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Powell

Power Boy
#8774 141 births
Powers Boy
17 births

Compare Powell side by side: Powell vs Power Powell vs Powers

Or pick any two names to compare →

Related Names

Names with a similar popularity rank to Powell

Kelley #8257
6,286 births · Peak 1968
Refugio #8259
3,984 births · Peak 1927
Camille #8256
1,398 births · Peak 1915
Cletus #8260
7,437 births · Peak 1922
Elonzo #8255
236 births · Peak 2021
Grafton #8261
1,080 births · Peak 1916
Rollo #8254
949 births · Peak 1918
Maury #8262
2,512 births · Peak 1963

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Powell: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1883–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Powell draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.