How rare is the name Memphis?

6,955 people in the United States have the first name Memphis, about 1 in 43,427. It ranks #3,142 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

MEMPHIS

#3,142

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
6,955
About
1 in 43,427
This common or more
81.7%
Who bears it

Of the 6,955 people named Memphis, 73.3% reported their origin as White, 9.9% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.7% as two or more races. 81.2% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Memphis peaked in 2021, when 986 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19152025
Peak year
2021
Births that year
986
In 2025*
580 ▼41%
Recorded as
mostly male

At least 12,735 babies have been given the name since 1915. 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.

Memphis by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #806. The largest share of babies named Memphis, 70.8%, were born in 2013 or later.

1910s#8,11821
1920s#7,70647
1930s#9,91512
1940s#9,67317
1990s#28,41217
2000s#1,8172,385
2010s#1,0785,452
2020s#8064,784
Greatest Generation 1901–270.4%
Silent Generation 1928–450.3%
Baby boom 1946–640%
Millennials 1981–960.1%
Generation Z 1997–1228.4%
2013 and later70.8%

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 Memphis is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Memphis has been most common in Kentucky (2.5×), Oklahoma (2.3×), and Tennessee (2.2×), and least common in New York (0.22×).

10,457 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 Memphis

1 other first name also has 6,955 people.

#3,142 Seamus · 6,955

Either side of Memphis

#3,139 Jeana · 6,976#3,141 Malissa · 6,963#3,142 Seamus · 6,955#3,144 Concetta · 6,950

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