Norris
Masculine · Old French roots · “northerner”
Norris is given to both — 16,456 boys and 523 girls since 1880. See Norris as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Norris is an English surname with two separate Norman-French sources, one meaning a northerner and one meaning a nurse. As a first name it belongs above all to Norris McWhirter, who with his twin brother Ross compiled the first Guinness Book of Records.
How old is the name Norris?
Norris was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Norris alive today was born around 1945, making them about 80 years old. About 7,600 people named Norris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Norris most popular?
Norris peaked in 1924, reaching #330 nationally. Today it ranks #5861, 5,531 places below that high. See the whole 1924 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From noreis and norice (Old French) to Norris
The story of Norris
Both surnames go back to medieval England, and like many surnames Norris became an American first name in the nineteenth century. Its best-known first-name bearer was British: Norris McWhirter and his twin Ross were sports journalists when, in 1955, they compiled The Guinness Book of Records, a book the Guinness brewery commissioned to settle arguments in pubs. Norris edited it for three decades and became famous on the BBC children's program Record Breakers for answering questions from memory.
Meaningscholars disagree
northerner, or nurse (Norman French)
Two surnames fell together in this spelling. One is from Old French noreis, 'northerner,' for a man who came from the north; the other is from norice, 'nurse,' used of a foster parent or someone who cared for children. Few families know which of the two they carry.
How the name formed
- noreis and noriceOld French
- NorrisEnglish surname
- Norrisfirst name
Pronouncing Norris
NOR-is
Two syllables, stress on the first.
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
- 1924308 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #330reached in 1924
- Change vs 2022
- −46.4%15 in 2025, from 28
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.
Norris in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Tennessee.
Norriss among us
people named Norris are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 113,872 born in 2025 was named Norris
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 Davis test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Norris's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Davis climbed just as high around 1901, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Davis's path sketches the road Norris is walking now.
Norris sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Norris beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Norris in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A plain English surname that works as a first name without explanation.
- Two documented meanings, both ordinary medieval words.
- Rare among children today, so it will seldom be shared.
- Many people will think of the actor Chuck Norris, whose surname it is, and the long-running jokes about him.
- It is best known among men of earlier generations, so it reads as a vintage choice.
- A very few girls are recorded with it; for them it will be read as a boy's name.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Norris
Masculine · Old French roots · #5861 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Norriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,600 people named Norris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Norris in 2025?
- Norris ranks #5861 among US boy names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Norris?
- About 1 in every 113,872 US boys born in 2025 was named Norris — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Norris with classmates?
- Norris will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Norris
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eber#5861 · Wilton#5861 · Ruby#5861 · Stacy#5861 · Garner#5861 · Caldwell#5861 · Severin#5861 · Newton#5861
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Norris? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Norris and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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