Turner
Masculine · Latin roots · “one who works at a lathe”
Turner is given to both — 9,989 boys and 397 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Turner began as a job title: the craftsman at the lathe, shaping wood or metal as it spun. It has been an English surname since the Middle Ages, and it has been given to American boys as a first name for as long as US name records have existed — never crowded, never absent. Two clean syllables, both easy to say and to spell on the first try.
How old is the name Turner?
Turner was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Turner alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 7,700 people named Turner are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Turner most popular?
Turner peaked in 1888, reaching #353 nationally. Today it ranks #1097, 744 places below that high. See the whole 1888 chart.
Turner appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From tornator (Latin) to Turner
The story of Turner
The word arrived in English with the Norman French and named a real trade — the turner sat at a lathe and cut bowls, chair legs, spindles and tool handles from spinning stock. As trades hardened into surnames in medieval England, Turner became one of the most widespread occupational names in the country, which is why it crossed the Atlantic in such numbers. In the United States it followed the familiar path of English surnames into the first-name column, and it has stayed there quietly ever since, with its firmest footing in the South.
Meaning
one who works at a lathe; a turner of wood or metal
From Middle English turnour, via Old French, from Latin tornator. A smaller number of medieval bearers likely took the name from Old French tornoier, one who took part in tournaments, but the craftsman's trade is the main road.
How the name formed
- tornatorLatin
- torneorOld French
- turnourMiddle English
- Turner
Related forms: Tourneur · Tornatore · Tornero · Dreher
Pronouncing Turner
TUR-nur
Said exactly like the English word turner, stress on the first syllable. No competing pronunciations in English.
Nicknames for Turner
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 2019246 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #353reached in 1888
- Change vs 2022
- +12.7%195 in 2025, from 173
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.
Turner in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Tourneur in French — related form
- Tornatore in Italian — related form
- Tornero in Spanish — related form
- Dreher in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Georgia, North Carolina.
Turners among us
people named Turner are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 8,759 born in 2025 was named Turner
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Turner 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 Turner is headed
Turner 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.
Turner beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Turner in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelling and sound match each other completely: people who hear it can write it, and people who read it can say it.
- A documented English surname since the Middle Ages, so the name has a long unbroken paper trail behind it.
- On US given-name records for the whole span they cover, without ever surging into a crowded decade.
- Common enough as a surname that it is instantly recognizable, uncommon enough as a first name that a child is unlikely to share it in class.
- It reads as a last name first, so expect forms, rosters and receptionists to occasionally file it that way — a lifetime of gentle corrections rather than confusion.
- Almost no nickname options. If short forms matter to your family, Turner offers little beyond Turn.
- It is also an ordinary English noun, which invites the odd page-turner or pancake-turner joke. These land in childhood and rarely follow anyone past it.
- Its footing is strongest in the southern states, so it may sound more locally familiar in some parts of the country than in others.
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What they receive
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Turner
Masculine · Latin roots · #1097 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Turners are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,700 people named Turner are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Turner in 2025?
- Turner ranks #1097 among US boy names in 2025, with 195 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Turner?
- About 1 in every 8,759 US boys born in 2025 was named Turner — 195 in all.
- Will my child share the name Turner with classmates?
- Turner will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Turner
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dayton#1097 · Brendan#1097 · Dimitri#1097 · Mael#1097 · Kit#1097 · Bobby#1097 · Rami#1097 · Marlon#1097
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Turner? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Turner and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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