Watson
Watson was given to 224 boys in 2025, #1,011 among boys’ names; 6,721 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 4,600 Americans named Watson and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (68% of everyone recorded); the median is 7 years old and half are between 4 and 14.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Watson by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Watson?
#1,011 among boys’ names, 2025
Watson rose from #1,414 in 2015 to #1,011 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 0.06 to 0.13 per 1,000.
466 babies in 2021, the peak
Watson peaked in 2021, when 466 boys were given it, #597 among boys’ names. The 229 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 49% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 224 | #1,011 | 0.13 |
| 2024 | 279 | #868 | 0.16 |
| 2023 | 306 | #805 | 0.18 |
| 2022 | 356 | #729 | 0.20 |
| 2021 | 466 | #597 | 0.27 |
| 2020 | 454 | #603 | 0.26 |
| 2019 | 362 | #697 | 0.20 |
| 2018 | 340 | #715 | 0.19 |
| 2017 | 198 | #1,022 | 0.11 |
| 2016 | 121 | #1,442 | 0.06 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 122 | #1,414 | 0.06 |
| 2014 | 93 | #1,668 | 0.05 |
| 2013 | 62 | #2,161 | 0.03 |
| 2012 | 82 | #1,812 | 0.04 |
| 2011 | 43 | #2,793 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 36 | #3,177 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 18 | #5,310 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 24 | #4,256 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 23 | #4,361 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 26 | #3,880 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 33 | #3,165 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 25 | #3,726 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 19 | #4,409 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 20 | #4,176 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 18 | #4,464 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 13 | #5,560 | 0.01 |
| 1999 | 25 | #3,270 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 19 | #3,837 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 16 | #4,233 | 0.01 |
| 1996 | 11 | #5,515 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 14 | #4,494 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 17 | #3,899 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 14 | #4,433 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 14 | #4,307 | 0.01 |
| 1991 | 8 | #6,499 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 17 | #3,591 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 12 | #4,507 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 14 | #3,695 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 13 | #3,712 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 15 | #3,260 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 15 | #3,209 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 13 | #3,451 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 13 | #3,402 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 17 | #2,827 | 0.01 |
| 1981 | 11 | #3,845 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 6 | #6,215 | under 0.01 |
| 1979 | 8 | #4,830 | under 0.01 |
| 1978 | 6 | #5,751 | under 0.01 |
| 1977 | 10 | #3,829 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 7 | #4,917 | under 0.01 |
| 1975 | 10 | #3,651 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 13 | #2,939 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 14 | #2,711 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 14 | #2,652 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 9 | #3,651 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 14 | #2,617 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 11 | #2,854 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 13 | #2,441 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 7 | #3,547 | under 0.01 |
| 1966 | 11 | #2,622 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 11 | #2,611 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 19 | #1,896 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 22 | #1,742 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 12 | #2,498 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 28 | #1,549 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 20 | #1,854 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 18 | #1,972 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 17 | #2,022 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 24 | #1,669 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 27 | #1,530 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 31 | #1,393 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 25 | #1,556 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 35 | #1,278 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 22 | #1,662 | 0.01 |
| 1951 | 27 | #1,459 | 0.01 |
| 1950 | 24 | #1,534 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 31 | #1,319 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 34 | #1,254 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 36 | #1,230 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 33 | #1,234 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 33 | #1,161 | 0.02 |
| 1944 | 24 | #1,397 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 34 | #1,186 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 26 | #1,379 | 0.02 |
| 1941 | 45 | #959 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 38 | #1,064 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 41 | #1,006 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 40 | #1,027 | 0.04 |
| 1937 | 30 | #1,232 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 42 | #970 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 33 | #1,163 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 26 | #1,355 | 0.03 |
| 1933 | 46 | #935 | 0.05 |
| 1932 | 34 | #1,174 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 46 | #982 | 0.04 |
| 1930 | 37 | #1,171 | 0.03 |
| 1929 | 35 | #1,192 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 28 | #1,412 | 0.03 |
| 1927 | 52 | #980 | 0.05 |
| 1926 | 48 | #1,008 | 0.04 |
| 1925 | 58 | #889 | 0.05 |
| 1924 | 63 | #870 | 0.06 |
| 1923 | 58 | #904 | 0.05 |
| 1922 | 67 | #838 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 71 | #813 | 0.06 |
| 1920 | 57 | #922 | 0.05 |
| 1919 | 68 | #788 | 0.07 |
| 1918 | 83 | #691 | 0.08 |
| 1917 | 61 | #819 | 0.07 |
| 1916 | 75 | #689 | 0.08 |
| 1915 | 72 | #689 | 0.08 |
| 1914 | 59 | #666 | 0.09 |
| 1913 | 43 | #710 | 0.08 |
| 1912 | 36 | #724 | 0.08 |
| 1911 | 21 | #705 | 0.09 |
| 1910 | 25 | #581 | 0.13 |
| 1909 | 12 | #889 | 0.07 |
| 1908 | 16 | #684 | 0.10 |
| 1907 | 9 | #995 | 0.06 |
| 1906 | 13 | #708 | 0.10 |
| 1905 | 12 | #739 | 0.09 |
| 1904 | 13 | #683 | 0.10 |
| 1903 | 7 | #1,002 | 0.06 |
| 1902 | 14 | #613 | 0.11 |
| 1901 | 14 | #556 | 0.13 |
| 1900 | 13 | #733 | 0.09 |
| 1899 | 12 | #611 | 0.11 |
| 1898 | 13 | #632 | 0.11 |
| 1897 | 15 | #553 | 0.13 |
| 1896 | 24 | #406 | 0.20 |
| 1895 | 12 | #639 | 0.10 |
| 1894 | 10 | #726 | 0.09 |
| 1892 | 16 | #523 | 0.13 |
| 1891 | 12 | #561 | 0.12 |
| 1890 | 12 | #600 | 0.11 |
| 1889 | 8 | #785 | 0.07 |
| 1888 | 10 | #701 | 0.08 |
| 1887 | 8 | #747 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 5 | #1,099 | 0.05 |
| 1885 | 6 | #931 | 0.06 |
| 1884 | 11 | #607 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 14 | #496 | 0.13 |
| 1882 | 21 | #397 | 0.18 |
| 1881 | 10 | #591 | 0.10 |
| 1880 | 12 | #566 | 0.11 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Watson a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Watson has been given almost only to boys: 22 girls in 145 years of records.
Girls and boys named Watson: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Watson, and how old are they?
4,600 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 68% of the 6,721 Americans ever recorded as Watson. The median Watson alive today is 7 years old; half are between 4 and 14.
The 2020 Census counted 3,091 people named Watson (100 women and girls, 2,991 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,799 born in the U.S. The Census count is 10% above 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.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 120 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 311 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 144 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 207 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 434 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 3,380 |
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 Watson born?
The states with the most babies named Watson are Texas, Georgia and Ohio, with 24% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 20 | #1,128 | 0.5× |
| Georgia | 11 | #849 | 1.6× |
| Ohio | 11 | #797 | 0.5× |
| Wisconsin | 11 | #481 | 1.0× |
| North Carolina | 9 | #930 | 0.9× |
| Colorado | 8 | #676 | 0.7× |
| Minnesota | 7 | #712 | 1.1× |
| Alabama | 7 | #682 | 0.9× |
| Indiana | 7 | #839 | 0.7× |
| Michigan | 7 | #990 | 0.4× |
Where Watson is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Watson is most over-represented in Georgia: since 1910 it was given 1.6 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 Watson 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 2 names spelled alike, given to 6,778 babies since 1880, Watson is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 229 of their 235 babies (97%), 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 Watson
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 Watson and names like it
- Compare Watson and WattsonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sWatson peaked in 2021.
- Georgia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Watson since 1910.
- The top names of 2021The year the most babies were named Watson.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Watson alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with WMost given first.