Preston
Preston was given to 1,131 boys in 2025, #299 among boys’ names; 123,757 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 104,000 Americans named Preston and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (84% of everyone recorded); the median is 22 years old and half are between 14 and 35.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Preston by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Preston mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Preston is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the senses “priest” (prēost) and “settlement” (tūn).
From Old English prēost (“priest”) + tūn (“settlement”). Doublet of Prestatyn.
/ˈpɹɛs.tən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Preston?
#299 among boys’ names, 2025
Preston fell from #169 in 2015 to #299 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 1.3 to 0.66 per 1,000.
3,814 babies in 2007, the peak
Preston peaked in 2007, when 3,814 babies were given it (3,797 boys, #114 among boys’ names). The 1,141 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 30% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,131 | #299 | 0.66 |
| 2024 | 1,048 | #330 | 0.61 |
| 2023 | 1,232 | #274 | 0.72 |
| 2022 | 1,354 | #255 | 0.78 |
| 2021 | 1,473 | #241 | 0.84 |
| 2020 | 1,647 | #228 | 1.0 |
| 2019 | 1,748 | #217 | 1.0 |
| 2018 | 1,966 | #205 | 1.1 |
| 2017 | 2,073 | #190 | 1.1 |
| 2016 | 2,313 | #172 | 1.2 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,456 | #169 | 1.3 |
| 2014 | 2,733 | #148 | 1.4 |
| 2013 | 2,670 | #148 | 1.4 |
| 2012 | 2,945 | #130 | 1.6 |
| 2011 | 3,037 | #136 | 1.6 |
| 2010 | 3,108 | #131 | 1.6 |
| 2009 | 3,465 | #120 | 1.7 |
| 2008 | 3,461 | #124 | 1.7 |
| 2007 | 3,797 | #114 | 1.8 |
| 2006 | 3,719 | #114 | 1.8 |
| 2005 | 2,728 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 2004 | 2,646 | #152 | 1.3 |
| 2003 | 2,640 | #154 | 1.3 |
| 2002 | 2,515 | #155 | 1.3 |
| 2001 | 2,618 | #152 | 1.3 |
| 2000 | 2,743 | #142 | 1.4 |
| 1999 | 2,291 | #162 | 1.2 |
| 1998 | 1,891 | #176 | 1.0 |
| 1997 | 1,889 | #178 | 1.0 |
| 1996 | 1,672 | #189 | 0.88 |
| 1995 | 1,715 | #182 | 0.90 |
| 1994 | 1,606 | #193 | 0.83 |
| 1993 | 1,545 | #197 | 0.79 |
| 1992 | 1,526 | #202 | 0.76 |
| 1991 | 1,426 | #217 | 0.71 |
| 1990 | 1,527 | #198 | 0.74 |
| 1989 | 1,470 | #200 | 0.73 |
| 1988 | 1,352 | #201 | 0.71 |
| 1987 | 1,278 | #202 | 0.68 |
| 1986 | 1,121 | #214 | 0.61 |
| 1985 | 978 | #238 | 0.53 |
| 1984 | 904 | #242 | 0.50 |
| 1983 | 819 | #255 | 0.46 |
| 1982 | 807 | #265 | 0.44 |
| 1981 | 744 | #278 | 0.42 |
| 1980 | 763 | #277 | 0.43 |
| 1979 | 690 | #294 | 0.40 |
| 1978 | 597 | #303 | 0.36 |
| 1977 | 583 | #320 | 0.35 |
| 1976 | 567 | #309 | 0.36 |
| 1975 | 450 | #368 | 0.29 |
| 1974 | 482 | #349 | 0.31 |
| 1973 | 484 | #349 | 0.31 |
| 1972 | 568 | #320 | 0.35 |
| 1971 | 541 | #340 | 0.31 |
| 1970 | 521 | #356 | 0.28 |
| 1969 | 507 | #354 | 0.28 |
| 1968 | 498 | #346 | 0.29 |
| 1967 | 460 | #348 | 0.26 |
| 1966 | 520 | #330 | 0.29 |
| 1965 | 456 | #357 | 0.25 |
| 1964 | 453 | #367 | 0.23 |
| 1963 | 476 | #356 | 0.23 |
| 1962 | 484 | #362 | 0.23 |
| 1961 | 452 | #372 | 0.21 |
| 1960 | 477 | #358 | 0.22 |
| 1959 | 485 | #352 | 0.23 |
| 1958 | 479 | #349 | 0.23 |
| 1957 | 516 | #335 | 0.24 |
| 1956 | 549 | #318 | 0.26 |
| 1955 | 524 | #324 | 0.25 |
| 1954 | 484 | #329 | 0.24 |
| 1953 | 516 | #315 | 0.26 |
| 1952 | 557 | #299 | 0.29 |
| 1951 | 519 | #305 | 0.28 |
| 1950 | 535 | #292 | 0.30 |
| 1949 | 535 | #293 | 0.30 |
| 1948 | 461 | #314 | 0.26 |
| 1947 | 525 | #299 | 0.29 |
| 1946 | 452 | #306 | 0.28 |
| 1945 | 450 | #284 | 0.33 |
| 1944 | 408 | #295 | 0.30 |
| 1943 | 448 | #291 | 0.31 |
| 1942 | 447 | #285 | 0.32 |
| 1941 | 395 | #292 | 0.32 |
| 1940 | 381 | #288 | 0.33 |
| 1939 | 353 | #295 | 0.32 |
| 1938 | 332 | #300 | 0.30 |
| 1937 | 360 | #285 | 0.34 |
| 1936 | 334 | #296 | 0.32 |
| 1935 | 324 | #302 | 0.31 |
| 1934 | 357 | #287 | 0.35 |
| 1933 | 317 | #301 | 0.32 |
| 1932 | 352 | #292 | 0.34 |
| 1931 | 333 | #305 | 0.32 |
| 1930 | 379 | #293 | 0.35 |
| 1929 | 348 | #299 | 0.32 |
| 1928 | 381 | #289 | 0.34 |
| 1927 | 375 | #296 | 0.33 |
| 1926 | 416 | #280 | 0.37 |
| 1925 | 426 | #278 | 0.38 |
| 1924 | 414 | #280 | 0.37 |
| 1923 | 478 | #257 | 0.44 |
| 1922 | 467 | #261 | 0.43 |
| 1921 | 448 | #266 | 0.41 |
| 1920 | 482 | #251 | 0.45 |
| 1919 | 430 | #259 | 0.44 |
| 1918 | 417 | #262 | 0.41 |
| 1917 | 413 | #249 | 0.45 |
| 1916 | 418 | #247 | 0.47 |
| 1915 | 388 | #246 | 0.46 |
| 1914 | 319 | #238 | 0.49 |
| 1913 | 218 | #256 | 0.43 |
| 1912 | 206 | #246 | 0.48 |
| 1911 | 128 | #226 | 0.57 |
| 1910 | 112 | #222 | 0.58 |
| 1909 | 76 | #257 | 0.46 |
| 1908 | 88 | #222 | 0.57 |
| 1907 | 71 | #251 | 0.48 |
| 1906 | 61 | #254 | 0.46 |
| 1905 | 82 | #211 | 0.62 |
| 1904 | 67 | #232 | 0.52 |
| 1903 | 76 | #205 | 0.64 |
| 1902 | 62 | #230 | 0.51 |
| 1901 | 78 | #190 | 0.73 |
| 1900 | 78 | #227 | 0.52 |
| 1899 | 52 | #232 | 0.49 |
| 1898 | 53 | #243 | 0.43 |
| 1897 | 37 | #305 | 0.33 |
| 1896 | 53 | #252 | 0.44 |
| 1895 | 58 | #233 | 0.49 |
| 1894 | 66 | #208 | 0.57 |
| 1893 | 46 | #261 | 0.41 |
| 1892 | 49 | #255 | 0.40 |
| 1891 | 51 | #225 | 0.50 |
| 1890 | 49 | #242 | 0.44 |
| 1889 | 39 | #270 | 0.35 |
| 1888 | 58 | #232 | 0.48 |
| 1887 | 44 | #243 | 0.43 |
| 1886 | 36 | #287 | 0.32 |
| 1885 | 48 | #238 | 0.45 |
| 1884 | 49 | #246 | 0.43 |
| 1883 | 52 | #211 | 0.50 |
| 1882 | 49 | #241 | 0.43 |
| 1881 | 36 | #266 | 0.36 |
| 1880 | 47 | #243 | 0.43 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Preston a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Preston has been given almost only to boys: 799 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Preston: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Preston, and how old are they?
104,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 84% of the 123,757 Americans ever recorded as Preston. The median Preston alive today is 22 years old; half are between 14 and 35.
The 2020 Census counted 87,761 people named Preston (531 women and girls, 87,230 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 99,270 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 | 1,370 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 6,270 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 7,760 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 19,700 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 45,000 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 23,900 |
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 Preston born?
The states with the most babies named Preston are Texas, California and Florida, with 26% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 134 | #290 | 1.2× |
| California | 86 | #387 | 0.6× |
| Florida | 66 | #292 | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 55 | #225 | 1.4× |
| New York | 48 | #372 | 0.5× |
| Pennsylvania | 45 | #267 | 0.7× |
| North Carolina | 41 | #306 | 1.4× |
| Tennessee | 41 | #221 | 1.4× |
| Michigan | 40 | #257 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 34 | #336 | 0.8× |
Where Preston is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Preston is most over-represented in Utah: 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 Preston 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 126,261 babies since 1880, Preston is the most given (98% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,141 of their 1,166 babies (98%), 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 Preston
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 Preston and names like it
- Compare Preston and PrestynBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2000sPreston peaked in 2007.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Preston since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Preston: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2007The year the most babies were named Preston.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Preston alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with PMost given first.