Bascom
Masculine
Bascom is a surname used as a first name, and its first syllable points at a people in the western Pyrenees whose ball game holds a record that no other sport comes close to.
How old is the name Bascom?
Bascom first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Bascom alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. About 100 people named Bascom are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Bascom most popular?
Bascom peaked in 1884, reaching #504 nationally. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Bascom
Jai alai is played in a three-walled court with a hard ball and a long curved wicker basket strapped to the arm, which acts as a lever and multiplies the speed enormously. Balls have been clocked at over one hundred and eighty miles an hour, which is faster than anything thrown, struck or served in any other sport, and the ball is harder than a golf ball. Players wear helmets and it is still dangerous. The game came out of the Basque country, spread through Spain and Latin America and to Florida, where it survived largely as a betting sport, and it has been declining for decades while remaining the fastest thing in athletics.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The surname has been traced to an English place name and the derivation is not certain. The resemblance to the word for the Basque people is a coincidence of spelling.
Pronouncing Bascom
BASS-kum
Two syllables with the stress in front and a light ending.
Nicknames for Bascom
Limited
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
- 1882
- Most boys named
- 191628 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #504reached in 1884
- Change vs 1966
- −14.3%6 in 1970, from 7
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.
Bascoms among us
people named Bascom are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Bascom sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is read correctly at first sight and rarely needs spelling twice.
- Bas comes off the front as a short form and works for either sex.
- It sits in the familiar family of surnames Americans use in front position.
- It reads as a surname to most listeners, which suits some families and not others.
- It will be heard as Bascomb or Balsam by people catching it once.
- No origin is documented for the first name, so the meaning question has nothing settled behind it.
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Bascom
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Bascoms are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Bascom are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Bascom in 2025?
- Bascom is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Bascom with classmates?
- Bascom will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More B names
The most-given names starting with B, all years combined.
Brian#339 · Benjamin#11 · Brandon#261 · Bryan#336 · Bruce#536 · Billy#1068 · Bobby#1097 · Bradley#403
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Bascom? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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