Race
Masculine · “a running”
There are two English words spelled race and they are not related. The contest is from Old Norse ras, a running; the word for a people came separately from Italian razza in the sixteenth century and its own origin is unknown. English has been confusing them ever since.
How old is the name Race?
Race first appears in US birth records in 1954 — 71 years ago. The typical Race alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 1,400 people named Race are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Race most popular?
Race peaked in 2000, reaching #1768 nationally. Today it ranks #6803, 5,035 places below that high. See the whole 2000 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ras to Race
The story of Race
English acquired a large stock of Norse vocabulary during and after the Danelaw, particularly words to do with movement, law and the sea: race, ransack, skill, sky, take, window. The second race, the one meaning a people, arrived four centuries later from a completely different direction and its earliest uses are about breeding stock and lineage rather than the modern sense. The two have never merged and never will, being unrelated words. As an American given name Race belongs to the recent taste for short forceful word names, alongside Chase, Blaze and Ace, and its best year in United States records is 2000.
Meaning
a running, a contest of speed
The word meaning a contest of speed comes from Old Norse ras, a running or a rush, entering English through the north. The unrelated word meaning a group of people came through French from Italian razza in the sixteenth century, and its own source is not recovered. They are homonyms, not senses of one word, and only the first is available as a name.
How the name formed
- ras
- race
- Race
Related forms: Ras · Racer
Pronouncing Race
RAYSS
One syllable, rhyming with face. Identical to both English homonyms, which is the whole of the difficulty.
Nicknames for Race
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
- 1954
- Most boys named
- 200265 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1768reached in 2000
- Change vs 2024
- +100.0%12 in 2025, from 6
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.
Race in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ras in Old Norse — related form
- Racer in English — related form
Races among us
people named Race are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 142,340 born in 2025 was named Race
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 Duffy test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Race's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Duffy climbed just as high around 1969, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Duffy's path sketches the road Race is walking now.
Race 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
Race beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Race in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable, four letters, and impossible to mispronounce.
- Sits comfortably beside Chase, Blaze and Ace in current American naming.
- A settled Norse etymology behind the intended sense.
- It is a homonym of one of the most charged words in American English.
- It is an ordinary noun and verb and appears in sentences constantly.
- The two meanings are unrelated, which does not stop anyone hearing both.
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What they receive
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Race
Masculine · #6803 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Races are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Race are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Race in 2025?
- Race ranks #6803 among US boy names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Race?
- About 1 in every 142,340 US boys born in 2025 was named Race — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Race with classmates?
- Race will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Race
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zeb#6803 · Buster#6803 · Fabien#6803 · Eston#6803 · Tyjuan#6803 · Fuad#6803 · Aaiden#6803 · Sanford#6803
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Race? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Race and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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