Mason
Masculine · Old French roots · “stoneworker”
Mason is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 342,583 boys against 3,348 girls since 1880. See Mason as a girl name
Mason began as the name of a trade: the person who cut and set stone, the one whose work outlasted everyone on the building site. It came into English from Old French after the Norman conquest, sat for centuries as a plain surname on parish rolls and workshop signs, and only later crossed over into use as a first name. Two clean syllables, said exactly the way they look.
How old is the name Mason?
Mason was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Mason is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 334,000 people named Mason are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mason most popular?
Mason peaked in 2011, reaching #2 nationally. Today it ranks #39, 37 places below that high. See the whole 2011 chart.
Where it comes from
From maçon (Old French) to Mason
The story of Mason
Mason is an English occupational surname, from Old French maçon, a worker in stone — a word that reached the language after 1066 and stuck fast, because cathedrals, castles and city walls kept masons in steady work. As a hereditary surname it was carried by families all over medieval and early modern England. Its life as a given name belongs mainly to the American habit of moving surnames to the front, a habit that has also given us Jackson and Bennett. Britain took the given name up in its turn, and it is worn today by several well-known English footballers.
Meaning
stoneworker, stonemason
The surname comes straight from the medieval occupation, and the trade word itself traces back through Old French to a Germanic root tied to making or building.
How the name formed
- maçonOld French
- MasonEnglish surname
- Masongiven name
Pronouncing Mason
MAY-suhn
Stress on the first syllable. Because the word is ordinary English, almost no one hesitates over it, and it survives phone calls and roll-call intact.
Nicknames for Mason
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
- 2009 — Kardashian baby Mason born on TV
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 201317,730 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2reached in 2011
- Change vs 2022
- −21.9%6,291 in 2025, from 8,051
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.
Mason in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Masons among us
people named Mason are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 272 born in 2025 was named Mason
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 Christopher test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mason's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Christopher climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Christopher's path sketches the road Mason is walking now.
Mason is coming down from a big peak (#2 in 2011). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Mason is headed
Mason is easing off slowly — about 20% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
High 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.
Mason beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mason in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on sight — the trade word is already in every English speaker's vocabulary.
- One settled pronunciation, with no regional split to explain.
- Charts in Scotland, Canada and England & Wales as well as the US, so it travels across the English-speaking world.
- Has an established short form, Mase, without requiring one — it works fine at full length.
- The word also names the Freemasons, and adults sometimes make that connection first. It is a mild association, not a heavy one.
- This name's wave is very recent, so nearly everyone who has it is a child or young teenager; there are few grown Masons to grow into.
- Surname-first names of this type arrive in clusters, and Mason shares its sound world with a whole cohort of similar choices.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Mason
Masculine · Old French roots · #39 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Masons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 334,000 people named Mason are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mason in 2025?
- Mason ranks #39 among US boy names in 2025, with 6,291 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Mason?
- About 1 in every 272 US boys born in 2025 was named Mason — 6,291 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mason with classmates?
- Mason will almost certainly be the only one in school.
- What explains the spikes and dips on Mason's chart?
- Mason climbed after 2009 — Kardashian baby Mason born on TV.
Ranked beside Mason
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Wyatt#38 · Bennett#40 · Gabriel#37 · Dylan#41 · Roman#42 · Jackson#36 · David#35 · Jacob#43
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mason? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mason and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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