Girls' name · peaked in 1982
Ebony name popularity since 1925
39,453 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Ebony (98.8% girls, 1.2% boys). Half of them were born in 1986 or earlier, so the typical Ebony is about 40 years old in 2026. Ebony peaked in 1982 as the #132 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 39,453
- Named Ebony, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #5,452 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.8% girls
- 38,998 girls · 455 boys
- Most popular in
- District of Columbia
- 4.68× its national share
Peak year is the year Ebony made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Ebony births per year, 1925–2025
1982 was the biggest year for Ebony both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1971 and 1976, Ebony became 6.1× more common, from 1 in 9,960 baby girls to 1 in 1,640.
- Steepest fall: Between 1996 and 2001, its share of baby girls fell by 54%, from 1 in 2,190 to 1 in 4,740.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Ebony's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Ebony.
Decade by decade
Babies named Ebony in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 0 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 0 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1950s | 6 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1960s | 59 | 0 | Under 5 |
| 1970s | 6,688 | 177 | #352 |
| 1980s | 18,263 | 201 | #160 |
| 1990s | 10,174 | 61 | #306 |
| 2000s | 2,911 | 16 | #961 |
| 2010s | 742 | 0 | #3,039 |
| 2020–25 | 155 | 0 | #5,452 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000. "Under 5" means fewer than 5 girls got the name.
Generation fingerprint
63.9% of babies named Ebony from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Ebony is most popular
The index compares Ebony'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 Ebony.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 4.68× | 807 |
| South Carolina | 2.09× | 1,093 |
| Louisiana | 2.05× | 1,379 |
| Maryland | 1.86× | 1,061 |
| Mississippi | 1.84× | 833 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Ebony and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Ebony (this page) | 38,998 | 1982 |
| Eboni | 6,522 | 1982 |
| Ebonie | 2,638 | 1982 |
| Ebonee | 1,662 | 1986 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Ebony's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Ebony.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Ebony (1982).
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