Prosper
Masculine · “fortunate”
Prosper is given to both — 678 boys and 76 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Prosper is a Latin adjective meaning fortunate — and its own origin is charming: pro spere, according to hope, so the fortunate thing is the thing that turned out as you hoped.
How old is the name Prosper?
Prosper first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Prosper is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Prosper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Prosper most popular?
Prosper peaked in 1881, reaching #866 nationally. Today it ranks #3450, 2,584 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From prosperus to Prosper
The story of Prosper
Prosper of Aquitaine was a fifth-century writer and disciple of Augustine, and his name carried into French and Italian as Prosper and Prospero. Shakespeare gave it to the exiled duke of his last play. It was well used in France and in French-speaking Canada and Louisiana, and it appears in American records through the nineteenth century. It is also widely used in Nigeria and Ghana today, alongside Blessing and Precious.
Meaning
fortunate, favorable
From Latin prosperus, generally analyzed as from pro spere, in accordance with hope; the same word gives English prosper and prosperity, and the sense of good fortune came before the sense of wealth.
How the name formed
- prosperus
- Prosper
Related forms: Prosper · Prospero · Próspero
Pronouncing Prosper
PROS-per
Two syllables, first stressed. French says pross-PAIR, with the stress at the end.
Nicknames for Prosper
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
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 202449 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #866reached in 1881
- Change vs 2024
- −32.7%33 in 2025, from 49
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.
Prosper in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Prosper in French — same name
- Prospero in Italian — same name
- Próspero in Spanish — same name
Prospers among us
people named Prosper are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 51,760 born in 2025 was named Prosper
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Prosper 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 Prosper is headed
Prosper looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 24% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Prosper beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Prosper in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning with a genuinely lovely etymology — what you hoped for.
- A documented record from a fifth-century writer to the present.
- Widely used in West Africa today, so it has a large living community.
- It is a verb in English as well as a name, and jokes will follow.
- The Shakespeare character is the first association for readers, and he is a difficult man.
- The French and English pronunciations differ in stress entirely.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Prosper
Masculine · #3450 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Prospers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Prosper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Prosper in 2025?
- Prosper ranks #3450 among US boy names in 2025, with 33 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Prosper?
- About 1 in every 51,760 US boys born in 2025 was named Prosper — 33 in all.
- Will my child share the name Prosper with classmates?
- Prosper will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Prosper
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sabastian#3450 · Luc#3450 · Deshaun#3450 · Trayvon#3450 · Blade#3450 · Oz#3450 · Josiyah#3450 · Fausto#3450
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Prosper? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Prosper and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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