Asher
Masculine · Hebrew roots · “Happy”
Asher is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 111,227 boys against 1,463 girls since 1880. See Asher as a girl name
Asher comes out of the book of Genesis, where it is given to one of the twelve sons of Jacob and becomes the name of a tribe. It traveled through the Greek and Latin Bibles as Aser, resurfaced in English among Protestant readers of the Old Testament, and was carried by a nineteenth-century American painter of the Hudson River School. Two syllables, the stress on the first, and a spelling that gives no trouble on a first reading.
How old is the name Asher?
Asher was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Asher is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 110,000 people named Asher are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Asher most popular?
Asher peaked in 2022, reaching #20 nationally. Today it ranks #28, 8 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Where it comes from
From Asher (Hebrew) to Asher
The story of Asher
The name is Hebrew, אָשֵׁר, and belongs first to the eighth son of Jacob in Genesis and then to the tribe descended from him, settled in the north of ancient Israel. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it became Aser, and Latin Bibles kept that form; the Hebrew spelling is what English took up directly. In Yiddish-speaking communities it lived on as Osher, still in use as a Jewish name today. English-speaking Protestants began giving Old Testament names to their children in earnest from the seventeenth century onward, and Asher came with that wave, quiet for a long stretch before returning strongly in recent decades.
Meaning
Happy, blessed, fortunate
From the Hebrew root associated with happiness and good fortune. Genesis ties the name to Leah's exclamation at the child's birth, a play on the same root.
Cultural footprint
Asher Angel (b. 2002) — Shazam!'s young Billy Batson
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- AsherHebrew
- AserGreek Septuagint
- AserLatin Vulgate
- OsherYiddish
- AsherEnglish
Related forms: אָשֵׁר (Asher) · Osher · Aser · Aser · Aser · Aser
Pronouncing Asher
ASH-er
Stress on the first syllable in English. In Hebrew the stress falls on the second: ah-SHER.
Nicknames for Asher
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20237,897 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #20reached in 2022
- Change vs 2023
- −5.6%7,456 in 2025, from 7,897
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.
Asher in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- אָשֵׁר (Asher) in Hebrew — same name
- Osher in Yiddish — related form
- Aser in Greek — transliteration
- Aser in Latin — transliteration
- Aser in Spanish — same name
- Aser in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. International figures from Statistics Canada. Sources
Ashers among us
people named Asher are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 229 born in 2025 was named Asher
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 Nathan test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Asher's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nathan climbed just as high around 2004, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nathan's path sketches the road Asher is walking now.
Asher 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 Asher is headed
Asher 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.
Asher beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Asher in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds. Most people get it right on the first try, reading or hearing it.
- One established short form, Ash, which needs no explanation and works at any age.
- A documented history stretching back to the Hebrew scriptures, with an unbroken written record through Greek, Latin and English Bibles.
- Recognizable across English, Hebrew and Yiddish-speaking families, and charting in Canada as well as the US.
- A clear, settled meaning — happy, fortunate — which is a rarer thing than parents expect.
- The great majority of Ashers alive are children. It reads as a name of the present moment rather than one handed down, which may or may not be what you want.
- It sits in a crowded sound-space with Ashton, Asa, Ashley and the surname-name Usher, so expect the occasional mishearing over the phone.
- Ash carries its own associations for some people — Ash Wednesday, a well-known cartoon character — none of them unkind, but worth knowing they exist.
- Common enough that a classroom sharing may happen, though nowhere near the saturation of the top few boys' names.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Asher to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Asher? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Asher
Masculine · Hebrew roots · #28 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ashers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 110,000 people named Asher are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Asher in 2025?
- Asher ranks #28 among US boy names in 2025, with 7,456 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Asher?
- About 1 in every 229 US boys born in 2025 was named Asher — 7,456 in all.
- Will my child share the name Asher with classmates?
- Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Asher.
Ranked beside Asher
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Cooper#27 · Joseph#29 · Santiago#26 · Alexander#30 · Julian#25 · Owen#31 · Ethan#24 · Matthew#32
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Asher? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Asher and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle