Townsend
Masculine · “at the end of the town”
Townsend is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 871 boys against 11 girls since 1880.
Townsend is one of the plainest English surnames there is: it names the family that lived at the end of the town. In a medieval village that was a real address, and it was a slightly marginal one.
How old is the name Townsend?
Townsend first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Townsend alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 600 people named Townsend are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Townsend most popular?
Townsend peaked in 1934, reaching #2121 nationally. Today it ranks #3240, 1,119 places below that high. See the whole 1934 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From toun ende to Townsend
The story of Townsend
English surnames of place — Atwood, Underhill, Townsend, Bywater — described exactly where a family lived, and they are among the most literal names the language produced. Townsend is common in the south of England and reached America with colonial settlement, where it became a well-known Long Island and New England family name. Its use as a given name has been quiet and continuous since the nineteenth century.
Meaning
at the end of the town
From Middle English toun, a settlement or manor, and ende; the name described a house at the outer edge of the village rather than in its center.
How the name formed
- toun ende
- Townsend
Related forms: Townshend
Pronouncing Townsend
TOWNZ-end
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation.
Nicknames for Townsend
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
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 202536 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2121reached in 1934
- Change vs 2023
- +56.5%36 in 2025, from 23
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.
Townsend in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Townshend in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, South Carolina.
Townsends among us
people named Townsend are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 47,447 born in 2025 was named Townsend
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 Brewster test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Townsend's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Brewster climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Brewster's path sketches the road Townsend is walking now.
Townsend 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 Townsend is headed
Townsend should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Townsend beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Townsend in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled and unusually literal meaning that needs no research to explain.
- Plain English letters, read correctly at first sight.
- Long-standing American family history behind the surname.
- Townshend with an h is the other standard spelling and will be offered.
- Nine letters is long for early handwriting.
- It reads distinctly as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Townsend 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 Townsend? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Townsend
Masculine · #3240 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Townsends are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Townsend are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Townsend in 2025?
- Townsend ranks #3240 among US boy names in 2025, with 36 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Townsend?
- About 1 in every 47,447 US boys born in 2025 was named Townsend — 36 in all.
- Will my child share the name Townsend with classmates?
- Townsend will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Townsend
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenio#3240 · Pace#3240 · Stoney#3240 · Dany#3240 · Rasheed#3240 · Abdirahman#3240 · Mykah#3240 · Lowell#3240
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Townsend? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Townsend 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