Pink
Masculine
Pink is given to both — 1,089 boys and 38 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Pink appears in nineteenth-century American registers as a man's name, which surprises modern readers — but the color's associations were not yet fixed, and the surname behind it is older than the color word.
How old is the name Pink?
Pink was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Pink alive today was born around 1915, making them about 110 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Pink are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Pink most popular?
Pink peaked in 1881, reaching #296 nationally. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Pink
Our story of Pink begins before the color meant anything in particular. It was a surname in England, a bird in some dialects, a flower with a cut edge, and a small fast boat — and the association with girlhood that now dominates it was not established until well into the twentieth century. In the American South of the 1880s it went onto certificates for sons, sometimes as a family surname carried forward and sometimes because somebody simply liked the sound of it.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The English surname Pink is generally read from a Middle English nickname, possibly from a word for a chaffinch or from a small sailing boat. The color word came later: it is named after the flower, the pink, and the flower is named for its frilled or 'pinked' edges. Which of these a nineteenth-century family had in mind is not recorded.
Pronouncing Pink
PINK
One syllable. It is an ordinary English word and is never mispronounced.
Nicknames for Pink
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191931 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #296reached in 1881
- Change vs 1956
- −58.3%5 in 1961, from 12
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.
Pink in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Pinkney in English — related form
- Pinck in English — spelling variant
Pinks among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Pink 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
Pink has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- One syllable, unmistakable, and impossible to misspell.
- It records a genuine and now largely forgotten American naming practice.
- The word's history — flower, then color, in that order — is a real curiosity.
- The color's modern associations are strong and were not present when the name was given.
- It is an ordinary English word with several senses.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century.
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Pink
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Pinks 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 Pink are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Pink in 2025?
- Pink is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Pink with classmates?
- Pink 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 Pink? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Pink and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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