Boys' name · peaked in 1894
Earl name popularity since 1925
195,392 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Earl (0.8% girls, 99.2% boys). Half of them were born in 1945 or earlier, so the typical Earl is about 81 years old in 2026. Earl peaked in 1894 as the #20 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 195,392
- Named Earl, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1894
- #20 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,236 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.2% boys
- 1,485 girls · 193,907 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 2.36× its national share
Peak year is the year Earl made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Earl births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1926. Measured as a share of all babies, Earl peaked earlier, in 1894.
- Steepest fall: Between 1990 and 1995, Earl's share of baby boys fell by 39%, from 1 in 3,610 to 1 in 5,930.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Earl's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Earl.
Decade by decade
Babies named Earl in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 314 | 30,986 | – |
| 1930s | 401 | 44,613 | #46 |
| 1940s | 238 | 39,128 | #71 |
| 1950s | 179 | 32,653 | #106 |
| 1960s | 155 | 20,369 | #156 |
| 1970s | 129 | 11,404 | #212 |
| 1980s | 69 | 7,397 | #294 |
| 1990s | 0 | 3,908 | #570 |
| 2000s | 0 | 1,906 | #953 |
| 2010s | 0 | 1,104 | #1,355 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 439 | #2,236 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.2% of babies named Earl from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Earl is most popular
The index compares Earl's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Earl.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 2.36× | 4,009 |
| Kentucky | 2.21× | 7,174 |
| Louisiana | 2.18× | 7,560 |
| Mississippi | 1.86× | 4,354 |
| Arkansas | 1.80× | 3,587 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Earl's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Earl.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Earl (1894).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data