Washington
Washington was last recorded in 2024, when 8 babies were given it; 2,644 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 2024 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Washington by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Washington mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Washington is “a male given name transferred from the surname, popular during the first century of American independence, given in honor of George Washington.” Its etymology gives the senses “a settlement of the household of *Hwæssa” (literally) and “belonging to” (-ing) and “homestead, settlement” (tūn).
Washington (the town in Tyne and Wear, northeast England): probably from the Old English place name Hwæssingatūn (literally “a settlement of the household of *Hwæssa”), from *Hwæssa (a Saxon chieftain’s name) + -ing (“belonging to”) + tūn (“homestead, settlement”). It was attested in 1096 as Wasindone. *Hwæssa is of uncertain origin, said to possibly correspond to waþ (“hunt”) + sige (“victory”), or possibly related to hwæte (“wheat”). There are other theories; more on Wikipedia. The surname derives from the town, and most places in the United States are named for George Washington.
/ˈwɑʃɪŋtən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Washington?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #9,814, in 2024; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
60 babies in 1921, the peak
Washington peaked in 1921, when 60 boys were given it, #909 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 8 | #9,814 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 9 | #8,867 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 10 | #8,248 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 6 | #12,055 | under 0.01 |
| 2020 | 11 | #7,465 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 10 | #8,169 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 12 | #7,101 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 23 | #4,454 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 11 | #7,566 | 0.01 |
| 2015 | 11 | #7,462 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (144)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 13 | #6,602 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 12 | #6,991 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 13 | #6,607 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 15 | #5,922 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 9 | #8,745 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 7 | #10,914 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 12 | #7,157 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 5 | #14,291 | under 0.01 |
| 2006 | 8 | #9,537 | under 0.01 |
| 2005 | 8 | #9,057 | under 0.01 |
| 2004 | 15 | #5,473 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 8 | #8,594 | under 0.01 |
| 2002 | 5 | #12,409 | under 0.01 |
| 2001 | 11 | #6,417 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 5 | #12,051 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 6 | #9,850 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 9 | #6,810 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 9 | #6,585 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 9 | #6,471 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 12 | #5,107 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 9 | #6,342 | under 0.01 |
| 1993 | 12 | #4,981 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 7 | #7,376 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 16 | #3,801 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 15 | #3,956 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 8 | #6,202 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 7 | #6,393 | under 0.01 |
| 1987 | 7 | #6,062 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 9 | #4,674 | under 0.01 |
| 1984 | 5 | #7,305 | under 0.01 |
| 1983 | 8 | #4,885 | under 0.01 |
| 1982 | 10 | #4,219 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 16 | #2,890 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 11 | #3,831 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 15 | #3,013 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 6 | #5,750 | under 0.01 |
| 1977 | 13 | #3,194 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 10 | #3,715 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 14 | #2,894 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 15 | #2,668 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 9 | #3,682 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 11 | #3,144 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 10 | #3,360 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 18 | #2,208 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 7 | #3,925 | under 0.01 |
| 1968 | 12 | #2,566 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 9 | #2,976 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 15 | #2,128 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 14 | #2,266 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 14 | #2,307 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 16 | #2,110 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 9 | #3,031 | under 0.01 |
| 1961 | 11 | #2,700 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 12 | #2,531 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 11 | #2,652 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 19 | #1,891 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 21 | #1,788 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 16 | #2,087 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 11 | #2,551 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 15 | #2,111 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 18 | #1,898 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 16 | #2,004 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 18 | #1,834 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 20 | #1,698 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 26 | #1,458 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 22 | #1,605 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 36 | #1,229 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 22 | #1,554 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 24 | #1,375 | 0.02 |
| 1944 | 24 | #1,396 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 25 | #1,429 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 16 | #1,864 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 23 | #1,445 | 0.02 |
| 1940 | 23 | #1,431 | 0.02 |
| 1939 | 21 | #1,485 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 23 | #1,436 | 0.02 |
| 1937 | 23 | #1,440 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 23 | #1,415 | 0.02 |
| 1935 | 26 | #1,353 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 21 | #1,549 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 31 | #1,200 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 31 | #1,235 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 21 | #1,588 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 29 | #1,365 | 0.03 |
| 1929 | 31 | #1,293 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 30 | #1,351 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 42 | #1,110 | 0.04 |
| 1926 | 46 | #1,032 | 0.04 |
| 1925 | 34 | #1,245 | 0.03 |
| 1924 | 46 | #1,057 | 0.04 |
| 1923 | 37 | #1,193 | 0.03 |
| 1922 | 38 | #1,180 | 0.03 |
| 1921 | 60 | #909 | 0.05 |
| 1920 | 51 | #972 | 0.05 |
| 1919 | 54 | #917 | 0.06 |
| 1918 | 46 | #995 | 0.05 |
| 1917 | 45 | #981 | 0.05 |
| 1916 | 37 | #1,070 | 0.04 |
| 1915 | 48 | #903 | 0.06 |
| 1914 | 44 | #801 | 0.07 |
| 1913 | 26 | #992 | 0.05 |
| 1912 | 27 | #874 | 0.06 |
| 1911 | 18 | #791 | 0.08 |
| 1910 | 26 | #568 | 0.13 |
| 1909 | 8 | #1,152 | 0.05 |
| 1908 | 7 | #1,212 | 0.05 |
| 1907 | 18 | #615 | 0.12 |
| 1906 | 10 | #849 | 0.08 |
| 1905 | 14 | #665 | 0.11 |
| 1904 | 19 | #514 | 0.15 |
| 1903 | 7 | #1,001 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 14 | #612 | 0.11 |
| 1901 | 19 | #452 | 0.18 |
| 1900 | 28 | #429 | 0.19 |
| 1899 | 16 | #500 | 0.15 |
| 1898 | 19 | #484 | 0.15 |
| 1897 | 19 | #458 | 0.17 |
| 1896 | 14 | #589 | 0.12 |
| 1895 | 19 | #475 | 0.16 |
| 1894 | 15 | #541 | 0.13 |
| 1893 | 13 | #569 | 0.12 |
| 1892 | 17 | #495 | 0.14 |
| 1891 | 14 | #495 | 0.14 |
| 1890 | 16 | #486 | 0.14 |
| 1889 | 19 | #432 | 0.17 |
| 1888 | 26 | #368 | 0.22 |
| 1887 | 12 | #541 | 0.12 |
| 1886 | 21 | #395 | 0.19 |
| 1885 | 21 | #398 | 0.19 |
| 1884 | 29 | #329 | 0.25 |
| 1883 | 20 | #399 | 0.19 |
| 1882 | 23 | #376 | 0.20 |
| 1881 | 20 | #388 | 0.20 |
| 1880 | 24 | #355 | 0.22 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Washington a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Washington has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 144 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Washington: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Washington, and how old are they?
An estimated 880 Americans named Washington and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (33% of everyone recorded); the median is 47 years old and half are between 22 and 69. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 2,345 people named Washington (92 women and girls, 2,253 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 957 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.5 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
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).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Washington
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 Washington and names like it
- Compare Washington and SimBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sWashington peaked in 1921.
- South Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Washington since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Washington: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Washington.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Washington alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with WMost given first.