September
Feminine · “the seventh month”
September is the seventh month and always has been in its own name — the Roman year began in March, and none of the four numbered months was ever renamed after January and February were added at the front. Attempts were made: emperors were offered the month and declined. Its American peak as a girls' name is 1962.
How old is the name September?
September first appears in US birth records in 1955 — 70 years ago. The typical September alive today was born around 1989, making them about 36 years old. About 2,100 people named September are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name September most popular?
September peaked in 1962, reaching #1947 nationally. Today it ranks #5917, 3,970 places below that high. See the whole 1962 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From septem to September
The story of September
The Senate offered to rename September for Tiberius, as July and August had been renamed for Julius Caesar and Augustus, and he refused with a famous question: what would they do when there were thirteen Caesars? Later emperors were less restrained — Domitian renamed it Germanicus and Commodus renamed it after himself — but none of the changes outlasted the emperor who made them, and September survived. As a girls' name it is rare, appearing in American records from the 1950s, and it belongs to the small group of month names that follow April, May and June without ever approaching their popularity.
Meaningscholars disagree
the seventh month
Latin september is built on septem, 'seven', which is certain. The -ber ending it shares with October, November and December is not explained: it may be an adjectival suffix meaning 'belonging to', or it may derive from a word for a month, and Roman writers themselves were unsure. So the name is half settled and half open — the number is beyond doubt and the ending has been argued about for two thousand years.
How the name formed
- septem
- september
- September
Related forms: Septiembre · Septembre · Settembre
Pronouncing September
sep-TEM-ber
Three syllables, stress in the middle, exactly as the month. Nobody has to be taught it and there is no competing saying in English.
Nicknames for September
High
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
- 1955
- Most girls named
- 197950 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1947reached in 1962
- Change vs 2024
- −4.8%20 in 2025, from 21
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.
September in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Septiembre in Spanish — related form
- Septembre in French — related form
- Settembre in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Michigan.
Septembers among us
people named September are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 80,363 born in 2025 was named September
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 Jearldine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. September's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jearldine climbed just as high around 1939, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jearldine's path sketches the road September is walking now.
September 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
September beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to September in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It never needs to be spelled, because every English speaker already writes it.
- Ember is a complete, current name available inside it.
- The Roman calendar story behind it is genuinely interesting and easy to tell.
- It appears in every calendar and every date, so the name is constantly in unrelated sentences.
- It ties a bearer to a particular month whether or not she was born in it.
- Three syllables and an everyday word together make the name conspicuous.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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September
Feminine · #5917 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Septembers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named September are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name September in 2025?
- September ranks #5917 among US girl names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name September?
- About 1 in every 80,363 US girls born in 2025 was named September — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name September with classmates?
- September will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside September
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elda#5917 · Saloma#5917 · Fawn#5917 · Sarafina#5917 · Jaymie#5917 · Jania#5917 · Kimberlynn#5917 · Patsy#5917
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles September? See the current top 100.
Choosing between September 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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