How rare is the name Napoleon?

4,933 people in the United States have the first name Napoleon, about 1 in 61,227. It ranks #3,954 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

NAPOLEON

#3,954

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,933
About
1 in 61,227
This common or more
83.3%
Who bears it

Of the 4,933 people named Napoleon, 45.6% reported their origin as Black, 30.5% as Hispanic or Latino and 16.2% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are male (99.7%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Napoleon peaked in 1926, when 122 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1926
Births that year
122
In 2025*
22 ▼82%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 7,810 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.

Napoleon by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #720. The largest share of babies named Napoleon, 24%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#720267
1890s#996227
1900s#1,181239
1910s#1,231797
1920s#1,3171,041
1930s#1,398798
1940s#1,693703
1950s#1,779899
1960s#2,030795
1970s#2,885525
1980s#3,279532
1990s#5,071388
2000s#7,398312
2010s#10,473204
2020s#13,15983
Before 19016.7%
Greatest Generation 1901–2724%
Silent Generation 1928–4517.5%
Baby boom 1946–6420.1%
Generation X 1965–8013%
Millennials 1981–969.8%
Generation Z 1997–126.1%
2013 and later2.9%

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 Napoleon is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Napoleon has been most common in Alabama (7.4×), Mississippi (7.3×), and Arkansas (4.8×), and least common in New York (0.19×).

3,599 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 Napoleon

1 other first name also has 4,933 people.

#3,954 Ellery · 4,933

Either side of Napoleon

#3,953 Ishmael · 4,934#3,954 Ellery · 4,933#3,956 Celestine · 4,932#3,957 Analia · 4,931

Spelled almost the same

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

#31,475 Napolean · 272

Also a last name

As a last name, Napoleon ranks #11,409 of 156,621, with 2,640 people. See Napoleon as a last name

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