Prince
Feminine · “prince”
Prince is given to boys far more often — 23,601 boys against 550 girls since 1880. See Prince as a boy name
Prince is a title given as a name, used in America since before the Revolution. It carries a long and complicated history, from an enslaved man who fought at Lexington to one of the most inventive musicians of the modern age.
How old is the name Prince?
Prince first appears in US birth records in 1903 — 122 years ago. The typical Prince alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 200 people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Prince most popular?
Prince peaked in 1907, reaching #1384 nationally. See the whole 1907 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From princeps to Prince
The story of Prince
Prince was one of the grand names that enslavers often gave to enslaved men, and many who carried it made it their own. Prince Estabrook, still enslaved, stood with the minutemen on Lexington Green and was wounded in the first fight of the Revolution; he later served through the war and gained his freedom. In the twentieth century, Prince Rogers Nelson was named after his father's jazz stage name, Prince Rogers, and made the single word famous around the world. The name is given to a very few girls, but it is overwhelmingly a boy's.
Meaning
prince, a ruler's son or a ruler
From the English word prince, from Latin princeps, the first one, a title Augustus took for himself as first citizen.
How the name formed
- princeps
- prince
- Prince
Related forms: Prince · Principe
Pronouncing Prince
PRINS
One syllable.
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
- 1903
- Most girls named
- 194718 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1384reached in 1907
- Change vs 1986
- 0.0%5 in 1991, from 5
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.
Prince in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Prince in French — same name
- Principe in Italian — related form
Princes among us
people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Prince 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 is short, strong and instantly understood.
- It has a long American history.
- It is a title as well as a name, and some will joke about royalty.
- Many will think first of the musician.
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What they receive
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Prince
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Princes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Prince in 2025?
- Prince is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Prince with classmates?
- Prince will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More P names
The most-given names starting with P, all years combined.
Patricia#1334 · Pamela#2239 · Phyllis#11932 · Peggy#8362 · Paula#853 · Pauline#2957 · Pearl#776 · Paige#346
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Prince? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Prince and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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