Creed
Masculine · Latin roots · “belief”
Creed is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 5,920 boys against 5 girls since 1880.
Creed is the English word for a statement of belief, worn down over a thousand years from the Latin credo, "I believe" — the opening word of the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. It is one closed syllable, ending in that long ee and a hard d, so it lands the same way in a shout across a yard as it does read off a page. English families carried it as a surname for centuries before American parents began using it out front.
How old is the name Creed?
Creed was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Creed is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 5,200 people named Creed are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Creed most popular?
Creed peaked in 2024, reaching #610 nationally. Today it ranks #663, 53 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From credo (Latin) to Creed
The story of Creed
Latin credo came into Old English as crēda, the label for the recited summary of Christian belief, and shortened through Middle English crede to the modern creed. From the word came the surname, borne by English families and reinforced by the Cornish parish of Creed in the far southwest. Like many English surnames, it crossed the Atlantic and eventually stepped forward into first-name position, a move that has happened over and over in American naming. Its use as a given name is concentrated in Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri, and its rise is a very recent thing — the great majority of people carrying it are children.
Meaning
belief; a statement of faith
From Latin credo, "I believe" — the first word of the creeds recited in church, which is how the whole formula came to be called by that name.
How the name formed
- credoLatin
- crēdaOld English
- credeMiddle English
- Creed
Pronouncing Creed
KREED
One syllable, rhyming with need. The spelling gives the sound away, so it survives phone calls and roll call intact.
Nicknames for Creed
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2025413 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #610reached in 2024
- Change vs 2023
- +2.2%413 in 2025, from 404
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.
Creed in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri.
Creeds among us
people named Creed are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,136 born in 2025 was named Creed
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Creed
- #663
- Creed on the 2025 chart
- #430
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Creed went to 413 boys in 2025, but Kreed is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 664, which makes it the 430th most-given boys’ name of the year — 233 places above the chart.
- Creed413
- Kreed251
About 1 boy in 2,572 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 4,136 for Creed itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Gerold test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Creed's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Gerold climbed just as high around 1939, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Gerold's path sketches the road Creed is walking now.
Creed is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Creed is headed
Creed looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 24% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
Medium 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.
Creed beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Creed in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, one obvious spelling, one obvious pronunciation — almost nothing to correct over a lifetime.
- The meaning is carried in a word most English speakers already know, so no explaining is required.
- Fits the long American habit of moving surnames into first position, alongside a whole shelf of familiar-sounding names.
- Distinctive enough that a child is unlikely to share it with a classmate, while still reading instantly as a name.
- It is a religious word, and specifically a Christian one. In some families that is the point; in others, or in a mixed family, it may carry more weight than intended.
- The pop-culture load is real: the rock band Creed, Apollo Creed and the Rocky spin-off films, and Creed Bratton on The Office. Most people will think of one of them first.
- The climb is steep and recent. The rarity that appeals now may not hold through elementary school, and it currently reads as a very young name.
- American records show it almost entirely for boys, so a girl named Creed would be doing something genuinely unusual — workable, but worth choosing on purpose.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Creed 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 Creed? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Creed
Masculine · Latin roots · #663 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Creeds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,200 people named Creed are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Creed?
- Creed is the most-used spelling in US records — 413 of the 664 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Kreed.
- How popular is the name Creed in 2025?
- Creed ranks #663 among US boy names in 2025, with 413 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Creed?
- About 1 in every 4,136 US boys born in 2025 was named Creed — 413 in all.
- Will my child share the name Creed with classmates?
- Creed will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Creed
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Yosef#663 · Mauricio#663 · Layne#662 · Aries#661 · Chaim#666 · Valentin#660 · Lionel#659 · Jaxton#667
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Creed? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Creed 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. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle