Pershing
Masculine
Pershing entered American naming in a single year. Families named sons for the general who commanded the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and the registers show it appearing in 1918 and vanishing after.
How old is the name Pershing?
Pershing first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Pershing alive today was born around 1918, making them about 107 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Pershing are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Pershing most popular?
Pershing peaked in 1918, reaching #334 nationally. See the whole 1918 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Pfoersching to Pershing
The story of Pershing
John J. Pershing commanded the American forces in Europe from 1917 and insisted on keeping them as an independent army rather than feeding them into British and French units. He returned to enormous acclaim and was made General of the Armies. American families named sons for him: Pershing appears in the registers in 1918, spikes sharply, and falls away within five years.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The surname is an anglicization of the German Pfoersching or Pförschin, generally connected to Pfirsich, 'peach' — so a byname for a grower or seller. The derivation is plausible but not firmly documented, and the family's own records show several spellings before the American form settled.
How the name formed
- Pfoersching
- Pershing
Related forms: Pförsching · Persching
Pronouncing Pershing
PUR-shing
Two syllables, stress on the first. The general himself used this pronunciation.
Nicknames for Pershing
Moderate
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 1918295 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #334reached in 1918
- Change vs 1950
- 0.0%6 in 1964, 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.
Pershing in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pförsching in German — related form
- Persching in English — spelling variant
Pershings among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Pershing are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Pershing 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 carries one of the sharpest documented naming spikes in the American records.
- A consequential and well-documented historical figure stands behind it.
- It is unmistakable — almost nobody else will have it.
- The surname's own etymology is not firmly documented.
- The military association is total.
- It is sharply dated to a single year, 1918.
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Pershing
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Pershings are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Pershing are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Pershing in 2025?
- Pershing is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Pershing with classmates?
- Pershing will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Paul#262 · Patrick#235 · Peter#187 · Philip#527 · Phillip#651 · Parker#102 · Preston#299 · Pedro#455
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pershing? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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