Temple
Masculine · “A marked-out sacred space”
Temple is given to both — 828 boys and 1,568 girls since 1880. See Temple as a girl nameSee other names given to both
A temple was a piece of the sky before it was a building — a space marked out by a priest with a staff, inside which omens counted — and the word for thinking hard about something comes from standing in one.
How old is the name Temple?
Temple first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Temple alive today was born around 1947, making them about 78 years old. About 400 people named Temple are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Temple most popular?
Temple peaked in 1888, reaching #1031 nationally. See the whole 1888 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From templum to Temple
The story of Temple
To contemplate is to be in the templum: the verb is built from it, and it originally meant to observe the marked-out space for signs. The augur drew the boundaries with a curved staff, faced a fixed direction, and watched — and anything appearing inside the lines was a message while the same thing outside them was not. The English surname arrives by another road entirely: it was given to people living on or working land held by the military order in the crusades, whose London holding is still called the Temple and still houses two of the four Inns of Court.
Meaning
A marked-out sacred space
The Latin templum was the region of sky or ground an augur cut out for observation. The building sense came later, and the English surname comes from land held by a religious order rather than from the word directly.
How the name formed
- templum
- Temple
Pronouncing Temple
TEM-pul
Two syllables, stress at the front. Said exactly like the common noun.
Nicknames for Temple
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
- 1888
- Most boys named
- 196522 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1031reached in 1888
- Change vs 2019
- 0.0%7 in 2024, from 7
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.
Temples among us
people named Temple 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
Temple 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 read correctly on sight by everybody.
- The word behind it has an unusually good history.
- It works for either child, which the record confirms.
- It is a common noun and a surname, which some people find odd for a person.
- The association with one child actress is permanent.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though nearly every bearer in the record is a girl.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Temple to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Temple? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Temple
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Temples are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Temple are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Temple in 2025?
- Temple is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Temple with classmates?
- Temple will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More T names
The most-given names starting with T, all years combined.
Thomas#34 · Timothy#203 · Tyler#219 · Terry#1115 · Theodore#4 · Travis#434 · Todd#1609 · Tony#783
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Temple? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Temple and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle