Fielding
Masculine · “From the English surname Fielding”
Fielding is an English surname given as a boy's first name, and it belongs to the novelist who wrote Tom Jones and, as a magistrate, founded London's first professional police. An American football coach called Fielding built teams that scored a point a minute.
How old is the name Fielding?
Fielding first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Fielding alive today was born around 1964, making them about 61 years old. About 400 people named Fielding are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Fielding most popular?
Fielding peaked in 1885, reaching #700 nationally. See the whole 1885 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From feld to Fielding
The story of Fielding
Henry Fielding, author of Tom Jones, became a London magistrate in 1748 and, with his half-brother John, organized the Bow Street Runners, a small paid force of thief-takers usually counted as London's first professional police. Fielding Yost coached the University of Michigan from 1901, and his 'Point-a-Minute' teams went years without losing a game and won the first Rose Bowl. Fielding has been used as an American first name since the nineteenth century.
Meaning
From the English surname Fielding, 'dweller in the open fields'
The surname describes someone who lived in open country, from Old English feld, 'field'.
How the name formed
- feld
- Fielding
Pronouncing Fielding
FEEL-ding
Two syllables with the stress on the first.
Nicknames for Fielding
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
- 1884
- Most boys named
- 201415 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #700reached in 1885
- Change vs 2023
- −9.1%10 in 2024, from 11
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.
Fieldings among us
people named Fielding 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
Fielding 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
- A distinguished English surname.
- Easy to spell and say.
- Almost certain to be the only one.
- It is also an ordinary sports word, which will come up.
- As a surname-first name it may be taken for a last name.
- It reads as a nineteenth-century name.
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Fielding
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Fieldings are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Fielding are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Fielding in 2025?
- Fielding is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Fielding with classmates?
- Fielding will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More F names
The most-given names starting with F, all years combined.
Frank#513 · Fred#1932 · Francis#420 · Frederick#435 · Floyd#2230 · Francisco#322 · Franklin#359 · Fernando#387
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Fielding? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Fielding and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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