How rare is the name Boston?

8,054 people in the United States have the first name Boston, about 1 in 37,501. It ranks #2,859 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

BOSTON

#2,859

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
8,054
About
1 in 37,501
This common or more
81%
Who bears it

Of the 8,054 people named Boston, 74.8% reported their origin as White, 8.6% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.4% as Black. 90.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Boston peaked in 2014, when 562 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2014
Births that year
562
In 2025*
505 ▼10%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 11,944 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Boston by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #1,159. The largest share of babies named Boston, 53.6%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#2,45715
1890s#3,26612
1900s#3,21629
1910s#4,28394
1920s#4,810119
1930s#5,59872
1940s#5,80776
1950s#9,30533
1960s#11,94422
1970s#17,85117
1980s#9,381111
1990s#3,964559
2000s#1,5832,859
2010s#1,1594,934
2020s#1,1722,992
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–271.9%
Silent Generation 1928–451.2%
Baby boom 1946–640.6%
Generation X 1965–800.2%
Millennials 1981–963.6%
Generation Z 1997–1238.6%
2013 and later53.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Boston is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Boston has been most common in Utah (23×), Idaho (7.2×), and Oklahoma (4.4×), and least common in Pennsylvania (0.21×).

8,987 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Boston

#2,857 Ila · 8,057#2,857 Marlyn · 8,057#2,860 Dong · 8,051#2,861 Dalila · 8,048

Spelled almost the same

One first name in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Boston, most common first.

#17,232 Bostyn · 644

Also a last name

As a last name, Boston ranks #2,322 of 156,621, with 15,314 people. See Boston as a last name

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