Manson
Masculine · “son of Magnus”
Manson is a northern Scottish surname with a Norse name inside it, and the northern islands it comes from spent centuries belonging to Norway rather than Scotland. They changed hands in one of the odder property transactions in European history, and nobody has ever quite undone it.
How old is the name Manson?
Manson was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Manson alive today was born around 1940, making them about 85 years old. About 300 people named Manson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Manson most popular?
Manson peaked in 1892, reaching #792 nationally. See the whole 1892 chart.
Where it comes from
From Magnus to Manson
The story of Manson
Shetland, Orkney and Caithness were Norse-speaking for centuries, and the naming habits there were Norse: a man was his father's son and the name changed every generation. Magnus was a common choice, so Manson became common with it, and when surnames froze into place the patronymic froze too. As for the islands, the King of Denmark and Norway married his daughter to the King of Scots and could not pay the dowry he had promised, so he pledged Orkney and then Shetland against it. He never redeemed them. Scotland kept the islands, the pledge was never formally discharged, and Shetlanders have been making the point about it ever since.
Meaning
son of Magnus
The Magnus behind it is the Latin word for great, taken up as a personal name in Scandinavia and carried to the northern isles by Norse settlers. The patronymic form is ordinary for the region.
How the name formed
- Magnus
- Magnusson
- Manson
Related forms: Magnusson
Pronouncing Manson
MAN-sun
Two syllables with the stress in front and a light second syllable. Nobody has trouble with it.
Nicknames for Manson
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
- 192326 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #792reached in 1892
- Change vs 2021
- +16.7%7 in 2023, from 6
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.
Manson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Magnusson in Norwegian — related form
Mansons among us
people named Manson 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
Manson 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 never needs spelling out.
- A documented northern history stands behind it, with a real name and a real region.
- It belongs to the -son family of surnames that Americans are entirely used to seeing in front position.
- One notorious American criminal has owned this surname in the public mind since the late nineteen-sixties, and no amount of Norse history will get in front of that for most people.
- It reads as a surname, which some families like and others do not.
- It is rare enough as a first name that forms and strangers will keep putting it in the wrong box.
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Manson
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Mansons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Manson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Manson in 2025?
- Manson is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Manson with classmates?
- Manson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Manson? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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