Slate
Masculine · “splitting rock”
Slate comes from the Old French esclat — a splinter — because the rock splits into sheets, and 'a clean slate' is a writing tablet.
How old is the name Slate?
Slate first appears in US birth records in 1990 — 35 years ago. The typical Slate is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 900 people named Slate are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Slate most popular?
Slate peaked in 2018, reaching #2355 nationally. Today it ranks #2676, 321 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From esclat to Slate
The story of Slate
Slate splits into flat sheets along its cleavage planes, which is what the word names, and school writing slates gave English both 'a clean slate' and 'wiping the slate'. Welsh slate roofed much of Britain. Slate entered American given-name use recently and appears in the registers in current use.
Meaning
splitting rock
From the Old French esclat, 'a splinter' or 'fragment', from a Frankish root meaning to split — the rock is named for how it cleaves. The same root gives 'slat'. Writing slates gave 'a clean slate'. The etymology is documented.
How the name formed
- esclat
- slate
- Slate
Related forms: Éclat · Slat
Pronouncing Slate
SLAYT
One syllable. It is a homophone of the ordinary English noun.
Nicknames for Slate
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
- 1990
- Most boys named
- 201856 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2355reached in 2018
- Change vs 2024
- +37.1%48 in 2025, from 35
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.
Slate in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Éclat in French — related form
- Slat in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Georgia.
Slates among us
people named Slate are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 35,585 born in 2025 was named Slate
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 Fortino test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Slate's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Fortino climbed just as high around 1947, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Fortino's path sketches the road Slate is walking now.
Slate 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 Slate is headed
Slate should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Slate beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Slate in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That 'a clean slate' comes from a school writing tablet is a first-rate fact.
- That the rock is named for how it splits is a genuinely good etymology.
- One syllable, hard, and never mispronounced.
- It is an ordinary English noun and reads as one.
- It is very new as a given name.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Slate
Masculine · #2676 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Slates are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Slate are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Slate in 2025?
- Slate ranks #2676 among US boy names in 2025, with 48 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Slate?
- About 1 in every 35,585 US boys born in 2025 was named Slate — 48 in all.
- Will my child share the name Slate with classmates?
- Slate will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Slate
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Isaak#2676 · Hershel#2676 · Mikhael#2676 · Kylon#2676 · Pryce#2676 · Davin#2676 · Juancarlos#2676 · Zyion#2676
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Slate? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Slate and another name?
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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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