How rare is the name Smith?

4,999 people in the United States have the first name Smith, about 1 in 60,418. It ranks #3,911 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

SMITH

#3,911

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,999
About
1 in 60,418
This common or more
83.2%
Who bears it

Of the 4,999 people named Smith, 58.2% reported their origin as White, 26.5% as Black and 6.3% as Hispanic or Latino. 82.1% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Smith peaked in 2016, when 174 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2016
Births that year
174
In 2025*
128 ▼26%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 5,664 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.

Smith by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #899. The largest share of babies named Smith, 32.8%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#899181
1890s#1,328143
1900s#1,442168
1910s#1,610481
1920s#1,850559
1930s#2,150376
1940s#2,833277
1950s#3,963199
1960s#4,886164
1970s#6,842136
1980s#5,633240
1990s#7,856209
2000s#6,105413
2010s#2,8971,351
2020s#3,010767
Before 19016.2%
Greatest Generation 1901–2719.1%
Silent Generation 1928–4511.3%
Baby boom 1946–647.1%
Generation X 1965–804%
Millennials 1981–966.4%
Generation Z 1997–1213.2%
2013 and later32.8%

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 Smith is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Smith has been most common in North Carolina (4.5×), Georgia (4.2×), and South Carolina (3.6×), and least common in Illinois (0.34×).

1,768 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 Smith

1 other first name also has 4,999 people.

#3,911 Stefany · 4,999

Either side of Smith

#3,909 Gerri · 5,001#3,910 Rania · 5,000#3,911 Stefany · 4,999#3,913 Shoshana · 4,998

Spelled almost the same

3 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Smith, most common first.

#5,657 Smita · 2,988#9,584 Smitha · 1,440#22,610 Smit · 439

Also a last name

As a last name, Smith ranks #1 of 156,621, with 2,369,644 people. See Smith as a last name

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