How rare is the name Major?

10,232 people in the United States have the first name Major, about 1 in 29,518. It ranks #2,427 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

MAJOR

#2,427

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
10,232
About
1 in 29,518
This common or more
79.7%
Who bears it

Of the 10,232 people named Major, 59.5% reported their origin as Black, 23% as White and 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.

Major peaked in 2017, when 1,050 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2017
Births that year
1,050
In 2025*
407 ▼61%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 21,749 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.

Major by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #601. The largest share of babies named Major, 48.5%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#601378
1890s#729379
1900s#883388
1910s#9901,147
1920s#1,1071,441
1930s#1,1951,062
1940s#1,2831,176
1950s#1,5851,114
1960s#2,168692
1970s#2,722572
1980s#3,197552
1990s#4,573450
2000s#3,676868
2010s#8037,653
2020s#9643,877
Before 19013.7%
Greatest Generation 1901–2712.2%
Silent Generation 1928–459.4%
Baby boom 1946–648.9%
Generation X 1965–804.4%
Millennials 1981–963.8%
Generation Z 1997–129%
2013 and later48.5%

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 Major is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Major has been most common in Mississippi (4.2×), Alabama (3.6×), and Georgia (3.2×), and least common in Massachusetts (0.09×).

16,396 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 Major

#2,425 Sharlene · 10,243#2,426 Noor · 10,240#2,428 Campbell · 10,224#2,429 Tamia · 10,222

Also a last name

As a last name, Major ranks #1,725 of 156,621, with 20,326 people. See Major as a last name

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