How rare is the name Buddy?

10,012 people in the United States have the first name Buddy, about 1 in 30,167. It ranks #2,464 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

BUDDY

#2,464

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
10,012
About
1 in 30,167
This common or more
79.9%
Who bears it

Of the 10,012 people named Buddy, 84.5% reported their origin as White, 4.4% as Black and 3.8% as two or more races. 98.8% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Buddy peaked in 1935, when 604 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18932025
Peak year
1935
Births that year
604
In 2025*
23 ▼96%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 22,585 babies have been given the name since 1893. 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.

Buddy by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #505. The largest share of babies named Buddy, 36.8%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1890s#2,52033
1900s#1,733121
1910s#1,420604
1920s#9221,924
1930s#5055,116
1940s#6774,015
1950s#8733,449
1960s#1,0422,744
1970s#1,3531,889
1980s#1,8781,297
1990s#3,852583
2000s#6,741357
2010s#8,567271
2020s#7,848182
Before 19010.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–279%
Silent Generation 1928–4536.8%
Baby boom 1946–6429%
Generation X 1965–8013.8%
Millennials 1981–967.1%
Generation Z 1997–122.5%
2013 and later1.6%

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 Buddy is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Buddy has been most common in Oklahoma (5.5×), Arkansas (4.4×), and Tennessee (3×), and least common in New Jersey (0.08×).

17,933 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.

Exactly as common as Buddy

1 other first name also has 10,012 people.

#2,464 Bree · 10,012

Either side of Buddy

#2,463 Deven · 10,015#2,464 Bree · 10,012#2,466 Harris · 10,007#2,467 Kallie · 10,006

Spelled almost the same

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

#21,475 Budd · 472

Also a last name

As a last name, Buddy ranks #75,616 of 156,621, with 275 people. See Buddy as a last name

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