Adams
Masculine · “son of Adam”
Adams is a surname made from Adam, and Adam is the first name in the Hebrew Bible — a word for a human being, built on the word for the red earth he is made from.
How old is the name Adams?
Adams first appears in US birth records in 1898 — 127 years ago. The typical Adams alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 1,100 people named Adams are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Adams most popular?
Adams peaked in 1898, reaching #885 nationally. Today it ranks #3450, 2,565 places below that high. See the whole 1898 chart.
Where it comes from
From adamah to Adams
The story of Adams
Adam was one of the commonest English given names of the Middle Ages, and it produced the surnames Adams, Adamson and Addison. In America the name carries two presidents and a signer of the Declaration, which is why Adams appears in nineteenth-century given-name records — American families named children for public figures far more freely then than now. It has been in quiet use since.
Meaning
son of Adam; man, from the earth
Hebrew adam is a human being, and the text connects it to adamah, the ground or red earth, in a wordplay at the creation. The surname adds the English possessive s to name a son.
How the name formed
- adamah
- Adam
- Adams
Related forms: Adamson · Adam · McAdam
Pronouncing Adams
AD-uhmz
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Adams
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1898
- Most boys named
- 202338 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #885reached in 1898
- Change vs 2023
- −13.2%33 in 2025, from 38
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Adams in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Adamson in English — related form
- Adam in Hebrew — related form
- McAdam in Scottish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, New York.
Adamss among us
people named Adams are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 51,760 born in 2025 was named Adams
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Adams sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Adams is headed
Adams looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 52% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Adams beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Adams in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a documented record as long as writing itself.
- Adam sits inside it as a complete and entirely ordinary name.
- Genuine nineteenth-century American use behind it.
- It reads as a surname very strongly, more so than most surname-names.
- Adam is far more common and will be assumed and written.
- The presidential association is the reason most Americans recognize it.
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What they receive
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Adams
Masculine · #3450 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Adamss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Adams are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Adams in 2025?
- Adams ranks #3450 among US boy names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Adams?
- About 1 in every 51,760 US boys born in 2025 was named Adams — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Adams with classmates?
- Adams will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Adams
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sabastian#3450 · Luc#3450 · Deshaun#3450 · Trayvon#3450 · Blade#3450 · Oz#3450 · Josiyah#3450 · Fausto#3450
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Adams? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Adams and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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