Vance
Vance was given to 200 boys in 2025, #1,080 among boys’ names; 27,150 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 18,700 Americans named Vance and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (69% of everyone recorded); the median is 42 years old and half are between 19 and 63.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Vance by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Vance mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Vance is “a male given name transferred from the surname, of mostly American usage.” Its etymology gives the sense “marsh, bog” (fenn).
From a Southern English dialectal form of Old English fenn (“marsh, bog”).
/ˈvæns/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Vance?
#1,080 among boys’ names, 2025
Vance fell from #759 in 2015 to #1,080 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 0.17 to 0.12 per 1,000.
555 babies in 1969, the peak
Vance peaked in 1969, when 555 boys were given it, #328 among boys’ names. The 200 births of 2025 are 36% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 200 | #1,080 | 0.12 |
| 2024 | 226 | #997 | 0.13 |
| 2023 | 237 | #955 | 0.14 |
| 2022 | 229 | #988 | 0.13 |
| 2021 | 242 | #935 | 0.14 |
| 2020 | 221 | #974 | 0.13 |
| 2019 | 245 | #894 | 0.14 |
| 2018 | 220 | #948 | 0.12 |
| 2017 | 265 | #836 | 0.14 |
| 2016 | 248 | #882 | 0.13 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 318 | #759 | 0.17 |
| 2014 | 246 | #883 | 0.13 |
| 2013 | 245 | #869 | 0.13 |
| 2012 | 255 | #842 | 0.13 |
| 2011 | 300 | #756 | 0.16 |
| 2010 | 289 | #772 | 0.15 |
| 2009 | 294 | #776 | 0.15 |
| 2008 | 290 | #768 | 0.14 |
| 2007 | 318 | #723 | 0.15 |
| 2006 | 298 | #726 | 0.14 |
| 2005 | 261 | #762 | 0.13 |
| 2004 | 231 | #784 | 0.12 |
| 2003 | 242 | #743 | 0.12 |
| 2002 | 198 | #840 | 0.10 |
| 2001 | 170 | #919 | 0.09 |
| 2000 | 141 | #1,035 | 0.07 |
| 1999 | 165 | #910 | 0.09 |
| 1998 | 135 | #1,010 | 0.07 |
| 1997 | 175 | #829 | 0.09 |
| 1996 | 162 | #857 | 0.09 |
| 1995 | 162 | #849 | 0.09 |
| 1994 | 186 | #776 | 0.10 |
| 1993 | 218 | #702 | 0.11 |
| 1992 | 237 | #672 | 0.12 |
| 1991 | 243 | #652 | 0.12 |
| 1990 | 246 | #644 | 0.12 |
| 1989 | 262 | #608 | 0.13 |
| 1988 | 244 | #602 | 0.13 |
| 1987 | 212 | #628 | 0.11 |
| 1986 | 162 | #713 | 0.09 |
| 1985 | 162 | #692 | 0.09 |
| 1984 | 160 | #688 | 0.09 |
| 1983 | 198 | #610 | 0.11 |
| 1982 | 171 | #671 | 0.09 |
| 1981 | 152 | #704 | 0.08 |
| 1980 | 152 | #707 | 0.09 |
| 1979 | 162 | #672 | 0.09 |
| 1978 | 172 | #639 | 0.10 |
| 1977 | 145 | #708 | 0.09 |
| 1976 | 209 | #558 | 0.13 |
| 1975 | 166 | #628 | 0.11 |
| 1974 | 176 | #606 | 0.11 |
| 1973 | 250 | #496 | 0.16 |
| 1972 | 226 | #528 | 0.14 |
| 1971 | 340 | #446 | 0.19 |
| 1970 | 407 | #398 | 0.22 |
| 1969 | 555 | #328 | 0.31 |
| 1968 | 332 | #424 | 0.19 |
| 1967 | 288 | #446 | 0.17 |
| 1966 | 299 | #443 | 0.17 |
| 1965 | 384 | #402 | 0.21 |
| 1964 | 406 | #396 | 0.20 |
| 1963 | 457 | #372 | 0.23 |
| 1962 | 431 | #389 | 0.21 |
| 1961 | 463 | #370 | 0.22 |
| 1960 | 450 | #373 | 0.21 |
| 1959 | 411 | #392 | 0.19 |
| 1958 | 376 | #402 | 0.18 |
| 1957 | 462 | #352 | 0.21 |
| 1956 | 359 | #398 | 0.17 |
| 1955 | 321 | #409 | 0.16 |
| 1954 | 279 | #434 | 0.14 |
| 1953 | 338 | #374 | 0.17 |
| 1952 | 309 | #390 | 0.16 |
| 1951 | 304 | #386 | 0.16 |
| 1950 | 261 | #416 | 0.15 |
| 1949 | 267 | #416 | 0.15 |
| 1948 | 249 | #425 | 0.14 |
| 1947 | 281 | #410 | 0.15 |
| 1946 | 224 | #425 | 0.14 |
| 1945 | 208 | #417 | 0.15 |
| 1944 | 189 | #444 | 0.14 |
| 1943 | 166 | #479 | 0.12 |
| 1942 | 150 | #500 | 0.11 |
| 1941 | 176 | #442 | 0.14 |
| 1940 | 165 | #451 | 0.14 |
| 1939 | 149 | #469 | 0.13 |
| 1938 | 152 | #471 | 0.14 |
| 1937 | 137 | #489 | 0.13 |
| 1936 | 166 | #437 | 0.16 |
| 1935 | 143 | #475 | 0.14 |
| 1934 | 168 | #434 | 0.16 |
| 1933 | 146 | #460 | 0.15 |
| 1932 | 134 | #497 | 0.13 |
| 1931 | 150 | #461 | 0.14 |
| 1930 | 156 | #478 | 0.14 |
| 1929 | 142 | #493 | 0.13 |
| 1928 | 180 | #449 | 0.16 |
| 1927 | 168 | #469 | 0.15 |
| 1926 | 171 | #460 | 0.15 |
| 1925 | 186 | #441 | 0.17 |
| 1924 | 152 | #507 | 0.13 |
| 1923 | 166 | #476 | 0.15 |
| 1922 | 199 | #428 | 0.18 |
| 1921 | 164 | #482 | 0.15 |
| 1920 | 207 | #412 | 0.19 |
| 1919 | 158 | #478 | 0.16 |
| 1918 | 190 | #426 | 0.19 |
| 1917 | 196 | #406 | 0.21 |
| 1916 | 177 | #423 | 0.20 |
| 1915 | 132 | #487 | 0.16 |
| 1914 | 134 | #411 | 0.20 |
| 1913 | 108 | #417 | 0.21 |
| 1912 | 71 | #469 | 0.17 |
| 1911 | 37 | #488 | 0.16 |
| 1910 | 30 | #523 | 0.15 |
| 1909 | 40 | #385 | 0.24 |
| 1908 | 30 | #450 | 0.19 |
| 1907 | 19 | #589 | 0.13 |
| 1906 | 19 | #545 | 0.14 |
| 1905 | 26 | #429 | 0.20 |
| 1904 | 19 | #512 | 0.15 |
| 1903 | 25 | #399 | 0.21 |
| 1902 | 23 | #439 | 0.19 |
| 1901 | 13 | #592 | 0.12 |
| 1900 | 15 | #677 | 0.10 |
| 1899 | 15 | #519 | 0.14 |
| 1898 | 17 | #521 | 0.14 |
| 1897 | 12 | #648 | 0.11 |
| 1896 | 18 | #496 | 0.15 |
| 1895 | 26 | #382 | 0.22 |
| 1894 | 20 | #436 | 0.17 |
| 1893 | 19 | #432 | 0.17 |
| 1892 | 18 | #477 | 0.15 |
| 1891 | 19 | #409 | 0.19 |
| 1890 | 13 | #563 | 0.12 |
| 1889 | 12 | #577 | 0.11 |
| 1888 | 7 | #910 | 0.06 |
| 1887 | 10 | #630 | 0.10 |
| 1886 | 9 | #690 | 0.08 |
| 1885 | 12 | #576 | 0.11 |
| 1884 | 13 | #544 | 0.11 |
| 1883 | 9 | #674 | 0.09 |
| 1882 | 5 | #1,087 | 0.04 |
| 1881 | 7 | #776 | 0.07 |
| 1880 | 7 | #803 | 0.06 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Vance a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Vance has been given almost only to boys: 138 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Vance: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Vance, and how old are they?
18,700 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 69% of the 27,150 Americans ever recorded as Vance. The median Vance alive today is 42 years old; half are between 19 and 63.
The 2020 Census counted 17,227 people named Vance (110 women and girls, 17,117 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 18,677 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 | 584 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,540 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,720 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 3,030 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,710 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 3,120 |
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 Vance born?
The states with the most babies named Vance are California, Texas and North Carolina, with 30% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 2,423 | #1,118 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 1,862 | #1,472 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 1,749 | #1,022 | 2.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 1,234 | #904 | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 1,000 | #1,007 | 0.8× |
| New York | 988 | #1,399 | 0.5× |
| Illinois | 933 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 864 | #1,101 | 0.8× |
| Florida | 748 | #1,052 | 0.8× |
| Virginia | 537 | not ranked | 0.8× |
Where Vance is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Vance is most over-represented in North Carolina: since 1910 it was given 2.2 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 Vance 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 Vance
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 Vance and names like it
- Compare Vance and VictorBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sVance peaked in 1969.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Vance since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Vance: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1969The year the most babies were named Vance.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Vance alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with VMost given first.