Windsor
Masculine · “the riverbank with a winch”
Windsor is given to both — 564 boys and 476 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Windsor was the name of a riverside landing before it was the name of a castle, a town or a royal house. Old English windles-ora describes a bank with a winch on it, for hauling boats. The British royal family adopted the name in 1917, replacing a German one; the American record for the given name peaks in 1925, eight years later.
How old is the name Windsor?
Windsor first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Windsor alive today was born around 1963, making them about 62 years old. About 400 people named Windsor are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Windsor most popular?
Windsor peaked in 1925, reaching #2012 nationally. Today it ranks #5861, 3,849 places below that high. See the whole 1925 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From windles ora to Windsor
The story of Windsor
The House of Windsor exists because of the First World War. The British royal family's name was Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which by 1917 was politically impossible, and George V replaced it by proclamation with Windsor, taken from the castle. That gave the word a new kind of prestige on both sides of the Atlantic, and the American record for Windsor as a given name rises through the 1920s. The name has other American uses too — the Windsor knot, Windsor chairs, Windsor Castle itself as a tourist fixture — all of which keep the word familiar. As a first name it has stayed rare.
Meaning
the riverbank with a winch
Old English windels, a windlass or winch, and ora, a bank or shore — so a landing place equipped for hauling. That is an entirely practical description of a spot on the Thames, and it is the accepted derivation. The place gave its name to the castle built there after the Conquest, and the castle to everything else. There is no competing etymology.
How the name formed
- windles ora
- Windsor
- Windsor
Related forms: Winsor
Pronouncing Windsor
WIND-zer
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the s said as a z. Exactly as the castle and the knot. There is no competing saying in English.
Nicknames for Windsor
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 202417 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2012reached in 1925
- Change vs 2024
- −11.8%15 in 2025, from 17
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.
Windsor in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Winsor in English — spelling variant
Windsors among us
people named Windsor are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 113,872 born in 2025 was named Windsor
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
Windsor 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
Windsor beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Windsor in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Win is a short form that is both easy and unambiguously positive.
- The pronunciation is universally known through the castle and the royal house.
- The Old English etymology is concrete and easy to picture.
- The royal association is unavoidable and will be mentioned.
- It reads strongly as a surname or a place rather than a first name.
- It is rare enough in the United States to need spelling out every time.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Windsor 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 Windsor? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Windsor
Masculine · #5861 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Windsors 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 Windsor are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Windsor in 2025?
- Windsor ranks #5861 among US boy names in 2025, with 15 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Windsor?
- About 1 in every 113,872 US boys born in 2025 was named Windsor — 15 in all.
- Will my child share the name Windsor with classmates?
- Windsor will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Windsor
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eber#5861 · Wilton#5861 · Ruby#5861 · Stacy#5861 · Garner#5861 · Caldwell#5861 · Severin#5861 · Newton#5861
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Windsor? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Windsor 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