Rising since 1985, #620 for boys today.
Popularity of Boston since 1880
Babies named Boston per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 2014, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Boston's real moment was 2020.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 0 | 15 |
| 1890s | 0 | 12 |
| 1900s | 0 | 29 |
| 1910s | 0 | 94 |
| 1920s | 0 | 119 |
| 1930s | 0 | 72 |
| 1940s | 0 | 76 |
| 1950s | 0 | 33 |
| 1960s | 0 | 22 |
| 1970s | 0 | 17 |
| 1980s | 0 | 111 |
| 1990s | 64 | 495 |
| 2000s | 250 | 2,609 |
| 2010s | 453 | 4,481 |
| 2020s | 276 | 2,716 |
Meaning & origin
Boston entered the U.S. baby name charts in 1880, but remained rare until the 1980s. It experienced a sharp rise starting around 1985, with its peak popularity in 2020 when it reached rank 620. The name is given to roughly 1 in 3,787 boys as of 2025. It is most common in the states of Utah, South Dakota, and North Dakota, which have historically favored place-name and surname-style given names. Boston's trajectory is distinctly rising, reflecting a broader trend of adopting American place names as first names. While sometimes used for girls, it remains overwhelmingly masculine in official Social Security data.
Boston is primarily a place name, derived from the city in Massachusetts, which itself was named after Boston in Lincolnshire, England. The English town's name likely comes from the Old English personal name 'Botwulf' (Botolph) combined with 'stan' (stone), meaning 'Botolph's stone'. As a given name, Boston emerged as a modern usage, particularly in the United States, following the pattern of using place names as first names.
Where Boston is most popular
Births per 100,000 boys by state. Press play or drag the slider to watch it move across the decades. The lightest shade means too few recorded births.
“Boston” around the world
Where Boston lands in the latest official birth statistics abroad, matched to the U.S. spelling.
France
5
babies in 2024
New Zealand
34
babies in 2025
Sources: INSEE (France) · NZ Dept of Internal Affairs (New Zealand).
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Boss, Bosty
Sibling names for Boston
Names that share Boston's style, for a brother or sister.
Names like Boston
Names whose popularity has moved with Boston's over the last 50 years.
