Banks
Feminine · “dweller by the riverbank”
Banks is given to both — 511 girls and 6,459 boys since 1880. See Banks as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Banks is the edge of a river, and the financial sense comes from the Italian banca — a bench, the table a moneychanger worked at.
How old is the name Banks?
Banks first appears in US birth records in 2018 — 7 years ago. Banks is overwhelmingly a brand-new baby name right now — most Bankss are still in diapers. About 500 people named Banks are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Banks most popular?
Banks peaked in 2024, reaching #2011 nationally. Today it ranks #2099, 88 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Where it comes from
From banke to Banks
The story of Banks
A failed moneychanger's bench was broken in the marketplace, which is where 'bankrupt' comes from — banca rotta. The surname Banks is unrelated in sense and names a family by a river. Tyra Banks made it familiar; the given name appears in American records for both sexes, chiefly girls, in current use.
Meaning
dweller by the riverbank
From the Middle English banke, of Norse origin, 'ridge' or 'riverbank'; the surname located a family beside one. The financial bank is the same word by a different route, through the Italian banca, 'bench' — a moneychanger's table. Bankrupt is banca rotta, a broken bench.
How the name formed
- banke
- Banks
Related forms: Bankes · Banca
Pronouncing Banks
BANKS
One syllable. It is a homophone of the ordinary English noun.
Nicknames for Banks
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
- 2018
- Most girls named
- 202497 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2011reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −8.2%89 in 2025, from 97
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.
Banks in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Bankes in English — spelling variant
- Banca in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Bankss among us
people named Banks are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 18,059 born in 2025 was named Banks
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 Alixandra test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Banks's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Alixandra climbed just as high around 1988, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Alixandra's path sketches the road Banks is walking now.
Banks 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 Banks is headed
Banks is on a steep climb — if the curve holds, 2030 could see around 64% more babies given the name than today. 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.
Banks beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Banks in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That bankrupt means a broken bench is a first-rate etymology.
- The riverbank meaning is concrete and undisputed.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It is an ordinary English noun with a strong financial sense.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- It is used for both sexes.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Banks 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 Banks? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Banks
Feminine · #2099 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Bankss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Banks are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Banks in 2025?
- Banks ranks #2099 among US girl names in 2025, with 89 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Banks?
- About 1 in every 18,059 US girls born in 2025 was named Banks — 89 in all.
- Will my child share the name Banks with classmates?
- Banks will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Banks
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Athalia#2099 · Prudence#2099 · Elaya#2099 · Lynnlee#2099 · Eiza#2099 · Minerva#2099 · Rosario#2099 · Ivette#2099
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Banks? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Banks 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.
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. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle