Anders
Masculine · “manly”
Anders is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 8,026 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Anders is the Scandinavian answer to Andrew, worn smooth by centuries of Danish, Norwegian and Swedish speech until only two syllables were left. It is the name behind Andersen and Anderson, two of the most common surnames in the Nordic countries, and the given name of the eighteenth-century Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius, whose temperature scale is still read every morning across most of the world.
How old is the name Anders?
Anders first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Anders alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 7,700 people named Anders are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anders most popular?
Anders peaked in 2014, reaching #749 nationally. Today it ranks #984, 235 places below that high. See the whole 2014 chart.
Anders appears on this list:
Works in Scandinavian families too:
Where it comes from
From Andreas to Anders
The story of Anders
The name begins as Greek Andreas, carried through the Christian world by Andrew the Apostle, whose cult reached Scandinavia early and stuck fast. Norse speakers wore Andreas down to Anders, and from there it became so ordinary that it filled the patronymics: Andersson in Sweden, Andersen in Denmark and Norway, Anderson once those families crossed the Atlantic. Nineteenth-century emigration brought both the surname and the given name to the American Upper Midwest, which is still where Anders is most at home. Its footing in the United States has been steady rather than dramatic, and remains strongest in the states where Scandinavian settlement ran deepest.
Meaning
manly, brave
Through Greek Andreas, from andreios, 'manly', built on anēr, andros, 'man'.
How the name formed
- Andreas
- Anders
- Andersson / Andersen
- Anderson
Related forms: Andrew · Andreas · Andrés · Andrea · Andrei · Antti
Pronouncing Anders
AHN-ders
Scandinavian speakers say AHN-ders with a broad first vowel; in the United States you will also hear AN-ders, with the vowel of 'and'. Both are widely accepted, and the name survives either version intact.
Nicknames for Anders
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 2014316 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #749reached in 2014
- Change vs 2023
- −19.2%232 in 2025, from 287
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.
Anders in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Andrew in English — same name
- Andreas in Greek — same name
- Andrés in Spanish — same name
- Andrea in Italian — same name
- Andrei in Russian — transliteration
- Antti in Finnish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Minnesota, California, Utah.
Anderss among us
people named Anders are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 7,362 born in 2025 was named Anders
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 Kenji test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anders's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Kenji climbed just as high around 1978, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Kenji's path sketches the road Anders is walking now.
Anders 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 Anders is headed
Anders 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.
Anders beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anders in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, two syllables, and spelled the way most English speakers would guess after hearing it once.
- Recognizable across Scandinavia, Germany and the English-speaking world through Andrew, Andreas and Andrés.
- Familiar in writing already, since Anderson and Andersen are common surnames on both sides of the Atlantic.
- A documented line running back to Greek Andreas, unbroken for well over a thousand years in the North.
- Works in full without needing a nickname, while Andy stays available.
- It ends in s, so possessives and plurals get fussy: Anders's book, the Anders family. Monograms and email addresses tend to need a second look.
- Expect a steady trickle of people hearing Anderson, writing Andrews, or assuming it is a surname used up front.
- The two pronunciations, AHN-ders and AN-ders, will both come at him, and he will spend some years deciding which one to correct and which to let go.
- He is unlikely to share it with a classmate, which is a pleasure for some children and a small burden for others who would rather not explain anything.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Anders
Masculine · #984 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anderss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,700 people named Anders are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Anders in 2025?
- Anders ranks #984 among US boy names in 2025, with 232 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anders?
- About 1 in every 7,362 US boys born in 2025 was named Anders — 232 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anders with classmates?
- Anders will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anders
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Curtis#984 · Dominik#984 · Joan#984 · Ephraim#988 · Ameer#980 · Isael#988 · Byron#980 · Damir#980
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anders? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anders and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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