Secret
Feminine · “a secret”
Secret is an English word used as a name, which the American record holds in small numbers. The word has a descendant in the ordinary vocabulary of offices that nobody hears as related to it.
How old is the name Secret?
Secret first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Secret alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 700 people named Secret are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Secret most popular?
Secret peaked in 1998, reaching #4023 nationally. See the whole 1998 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Secret
A secretary was originally a confidant: the person entrusted with private matters, which in a medieval household or a royal court was a position of considerable power. The word is built directly on the Latin for a secret, and the modern sense of somebody who types and files is a nineteenth-century narrowing that happened as the work was reorganized and, not coincidentally, feminized. The older meaning survives in the titles of senior officials, where a secretary of state is not doing administrative support. One word, two jobs, separated by several centuries and a large difference in salary.
Meaning
a secret
The word comes through French from a Latin participle meaning set apart, and the reading is transparent. What a family meant by choosing it is not recorded.
Pronouncing Secret
SEE-krut
Two syllables with the stress in front, said exactly like the word.
Nicknames for Secret
Limited
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
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 200635 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4023reached in 1998
- Change vs 2023
- −50.0%7 in 2024, from 14
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.
Secrets among us
people named Secret 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
Secret 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 instantly understood and impossible to mispronounce.
- The meaning is transparent and needs no explaining to anybody.
- It is genuinely rare on a birth certificate, which is most of the point.
- It is an ordinary English noun, and a loaded one, which will be remarked on for a lifetime.
- The word carries an implication about concealment that some people will read into the name.
- No origin is documented, so there is nothing to say about why it was chosen.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Secret
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Secrets are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Secret are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Secret in 2025?
- Secret is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Secret with classmates?
- Secret will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More S names
The most-given names starting with S, all years combined.
Susan#1085 · Sarah#90 · Sandra#1207 · Stephanie#557 · Sharon#1250 · Shirley#1581 · Samantha#151 · Sophia#5
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Secret? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Secret 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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