Addison
Feminine · “Son of Adam”
Addison is given to both — 148,893 girls and 13,427 boys since 1880. See Addison as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Addison began as an English surname meaning "son of Adam," carried by families in the north of England long before anyone thought of putting it on a birth certificate. It arrived on American girls' pages by way of the surname-name fashion, and it moves easily in the mouth: three light syllables that land on the first and never trip anyone reading them cold.
How old is the name Addison?
Addison first appears in US birth records in 1980 — 45 years ago. The typical Addison alive today was born around 2011, making them about 14 years old. About 148,000 people named Addison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Addison most popular?
Addison peaked in 2007, reaching #11 nationally. Today it ranks #84, 73 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Where it comes from
From Adam to Addison
The story of Addison
The name is a patronymic surname from medieval England, formed the same way as Jackson, Harrison and Dawson — a father's pet name plus -son. It served as a family name for centuries, including for the essayist and the physician whose names still appear in English letters and medicine. Nineteenth-century Americans borrowed a handful of such surnames as given names for boys, and Addison was among the quieter ones. Its move to girls came much later, with the broad American appetite for surname-names on daughters, helped along by a prominent Addison on a network medical drama in the mid-2000s.
Meaning
Son of Adam
Addy (or Adde) was a medieval English pet form of Adam, and -son marked descent. Adam itself comes from Hebrew adam, tied to adamah, "earth, ground."
Cultural footprint
Addison Rae (b. 2000) — TikTok star turned pop singer and actress
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Adam
- Addy
- Addisonsurname
- Addisongiven name
Pronouncing Addison
AD-ih-sun
Stress on the first syllable. The middle vowel is a light, quick one, and most American speakers say it the same way on first sight.
Nicknames for Addison
High
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
- 1980
- Most girls named
- 200711,949 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #11reached in 2007
- Change vs 2024
- −10.9%2,971 in 2025, from 3,335
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.
Addison in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. International figures from Statistics Canada. Sources
Addisons among us
people named Addison are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 541 born in 2025 was named Addison
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Brenda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Addison's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Brenda climbed just as high around 1961, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Brenda's path sketches the road Addison is walking now.
Addison is coming down from a big peak (#11 in 2007). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Addison is headed
Addison should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Addison beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Addison in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Reads correctly on sight for English speakers — no pronunciation lesson needed at a new school or a new job.
- Comes with Addie, a short form with its own long record as an independent American given name.
- Follows a pattern people already know from Harrison, Madison and Jackson, so it never needs explaining as a name.
- Also in use in Canada, so it travels across the border without adjustment.
- Documented as a surname for centuries, which gives the spelling a long paper trail.
- Addyson, Addisyn and Adison all circulate, so an Addison will spend some of her life spelling it out and correcting forms.
- The name's rise and gentle decline are recent and steep, which tends to tie it to a particular stretch of years the way Debbie or Tiffany are tied to theirs.
- A hormonal disorder carries the surname of a nineteenth-century physician named Addison. Most people never make the connection, but medical settings occasionally do.
- Boys' use in the United States has all but faded, so a boy named Addison would meet the assumption that the name belongs to a girl.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Addison
Feminine · #84 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Addisons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 148,000 people named Addison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Addison in 2025?
- Addison ranks #84 among US girl names in 2025, with 2,971 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Addison?
- About 1 in every 541 US girls born in 2025 was named Addison — 2,971 in all.
- Will my child share the name Addison with classmates?
- Addison will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Addison
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kennedy#85 · Lucia#83 · Josie#82 · Audrey#86 · Maria#87 · Madeline#81 · Lyla#80 · Autumn#88
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Addison? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Addison and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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