Princeton
Masculine · Latin roots · “prince's town”
Princeton belongs to the family of American place names that ends in -ton — the same ending carried by Weston, Colton and Preston — and it sits in the mouth as two clean, unmistakable syllables. Behind it stands a New Jersey town settled in the 1720s, the January 1777 battle fought there during the Revolution, and a university that took the town's name for its own in the 1890s.
How old is the name Princeton?
Princeton first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Princeton is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 10,000 people named Princeton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Princeton most popular?
Princeton peaked in 2017, reaching #402 nationally. Today it ranks #652, 250 places below that high. See the whole 2017 chart.
Princeton appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From princeps (Latin) to Princeton
The story of Princeton
Princeton began as a settlement in central New Jersey, established by Quaker families in the early eighteenth century and bearing this name by the 1720s. It became a Revolutionary landmark when Washington's army fought there in January 1777, and later gave its name to the college in the town, which formally became Princeton University in the 1890s. As a first name it arrived much later, through the broad American habit of moving surnames and place names onto children — the same road that brought Preston, Weston and Carson into the nursery. Its rise as a given name has been recent and concentrated, strongest in Texas, Georgia and Florida.
Meaning
prince's town
The word itself is straightforward English: prince joined to the very old -ton ending, from Old English tūn, meaning an enclosure, farmstead or settlement. What has never been settled is why the New Jersey town was given that name — proposals include a tribute to William of Orange, Prince of Orange, and a local landowner surnamed Prince.
How the name formed
- princepsLatin
- princeOld French
- tūnOld English, settlement
- PrincetonEnglish place name, New Jersey
- Princetongiven name
Pronouncing Princeton
PRINS-tun
Stress on the first syllable, with the t clearly sounded. Almost no one hesitates over it — the town and the university have made the spelling and the sound familiar across the English-speaking world.
Nicknames for Princeton
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
- 1950
- Most boys named
- 2017793 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #402reached in 2017
- Change vs 2024
- −9.2%422 in 2025, from 465
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.
Princeton in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, Florida.
Princetons among us
people named Princeton are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,048 born in 2025 was named Princeton
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 Shad test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Princeton's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shad climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shad's path sketches the road Princeton is walking now.
Princeton 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 Princeton is headed
Princeton is easing off slowly — about 18% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
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.
Princeton beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Princeton in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on sight by nearly every American, thanks to the town and the university.
- Comes with Prince already built in as a short form — itself a name in independent use.
- Fits an existing pattern of -ton names, so it sits comfortably beside Weston, Colton and Easton in a sibling set or a classroom.
- Documented as a place name since the early eighteenth century, with a Revolutionary battle and a major university attached to it.
- The university association is immediate and lifelong. Expect the question about whether the family went there, and expect the occasional joke about admissions. Some people will hear ambition in the name before they hear the child.
- Its wave as a given name is very recent and concentrated in the South and Texas, so it may read as a name of this particular era rather than a name from no time in particular.
- Prince, the natural short form, carries strong associations of its own — worth deciding in advance whether you like it, because others will reach for it.
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What they receive
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Princeton
Masculine · Latin roots · #652 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Princetons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 10,000 people named Princeton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Princeton in 2025?
- Princeton ranks #652 among US boy names in 2025, with 422 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Princeton?
- About 1 in every 4,048 US boys born in 2025 was named Princeton — 422 in all.
- Will my child share the name Princeton with classmates?
- Princeton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Princeton
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Wayne#652 · Otis#652 · Quincy#652 · Phillip#651 · Azrael#656 · Keanu#648 · Uriah#648 · Anakin#648
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Princeton? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Princeton and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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