Pierson
Masculine · “son of Piers”
Pierson is given to both — 3,522 boys and 111 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Pierson began as a plain piece of English bookkeeping: the son of Piers, and Piers was what medieval England called Peter after the Normans brought the name over. Say it aloud and the two halves still show — a first syllable that leans forward, a soft ending that lands quietly. It is a surname with several centuries behind it, arriving on birth certificates only very recently.
How old is the name Pierson?
Pierson first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Pierson is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 3,400 people named Pierson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Pierson most popular?
Pierson peaked in 2020, reaching #1134 nationally. Today it ranks #1451, 317 places below that high. See the whole 2020 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Petros to Pierson
The story of Pierson
The name Peter reached England twice: once as Peter, from the Greek petros, 'rock', and once through Norman French as Piers, which is the form that took hold in ordinary speech after the Conquest. Boys called Piers gave their children patronymic surnames, and Pierson and Pearson are both the result. The surname spread through England and then across the Atlantic, where — like Mason, Carter and Emerson before it — it made the jump from family name to first name. Its use as a given name in the United States is genuinely recent, which is why nearly everyone carrying it is young.
Meaning
son of Piers — that is, son of Peter, from the Greek for 'stone, rock'
Piers was the ordinary medieval English form of Peter, taken from Norman French; the -son ending marks descent, as in Wilson or Jackson.
How the name formed
- Petros
- Petrus
- Piers
- Pierson
Related forms: Pearson · Piers · Pierce · Persson · Petersen · Pieterse
Pronouncing Pierson
PEER-sun
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some families say PAIR-sun; both are heard, and the spelling gives English speakers no real trouble either way.
Nicknames for Pierson
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 2020172 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1134reached in 2020
- Change vs 2024
- −0.8%123 in 2025, from 124
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.
Pierson in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pearson in English — spelling variant
- Piers in English — related form
- Pierce in English / Irish — related form
- Persson in Swedish — related form
- Petersen in Danish / Norwegian — related form
- Pieterse in Dutch — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Piersons among us
people named Pierson are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 13,887 born in 2025 was named Pierson
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 Taron test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Pierson's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Taron climbed just as high around 1984, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Taron's path sketches the road Pierson is walking now.
Pierson 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
Where Pierson is headed
Pierson should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Pierson beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Pierson in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Reads correctly on first sight for English speakers — no spelling lesson required, only the Pearson/Pierson choice to clarify.
- Pearson is by far the more common spelling of the surname, so expect a lifetime of gently correcting forms and email addresses.
- It also sits close to Pierce, Peterson and Parsons, and will occasionally be heard as one of those over the phone.
- The name's use as a first name is very recent, so it currently reads as contemporary rather than inherited, even though the surname itself is medieval.
- A child called Pierson will most likely be the only one in the class — pleasant for distinctiveness, less so if they would have liked a name-twin.
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What they receive
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Pierson
Masculine · #1451 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Piersons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,400 people named Pierson are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Pierson in 2025?
- Pierson ranks #1451 among US boy names in 2025, with 123 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Pierson?
- About 1 in every 13,887 US boys born in 2025 was named Pierson — 123 in all.
- Will my child share the name Pierson with classmates?
- Pierson will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Pierson
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zephaniah#1451 · Demari#1451 · Ozzie#1451 · Dov#1451 · Zamari#1451 · Osiel#1451 · Coy#1451 · Giuseppe#1459
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Pierson? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pierson and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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