Prince
Masculine · “prince”
Prince is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 23,601 boys against 550 girls since 1880. See Prince as a girl 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 was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Prince is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 20,000 people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Prince most popular?
Prince peaked in 2019, reaching #297 nationally. Today it ranks #447, 150 places below that high. See the whole 2019 chart.
Prince appears on these lists:
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20191,164 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #297reached in 2019
- Change vs 2022
- −25.5%703 in 2025, from 943
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
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, New York.
Princes among us
people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,430 born in 2025 was named Prince
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 Darwin test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Prince's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Darwin climbed just as high around 1938, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Darwin's path sketches the road Prince is walking now.
Prince 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 Prince is headed
Prince should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Prince beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Prince in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
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.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Prince to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Prince? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Prince
Masculine · #447 in the U.S.
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 20,000 people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Prince in 2025?
- Prince ranks #447 among US boy names in 2025, with 703 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Prince?
- About 1 in every 2,430 US boys born in 2025 was named Prince — 703 in all.
- Will my child share the name Prince with classmates?
- Prince will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Prince
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dalton#448 · Bo#449 · Apollo#445 · Yusuf#449 · Uriel#445 · Valentino#444 · Kane#451 · Rome#452
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Prince? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Prince and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Or jump into a head-to-head
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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