Boys' name · peaked in 1880
Horace name popularity since 1925
33,991 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Horace. Half of them were born in 1944 or earlier, so the typical Horace is about 82 years old in 2026. Horace peaked in 1880 as the #79 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 33,991
- Named Horace, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1880
- #79 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #6,245 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.5% boys
- 163 girls · 33,828 boys
- Most popular in
- Georgia
- 4.91× its national share
Peak year is the year Horace 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.
Horace births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1927. Measured as a share of all babies, Horace peaked earlier, in 1880.
- Steepest fall: Between 1953 and 1958, Horace's share of baby boys fell by 39%, from 1 in 3,020 to 1 in 4,910.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Horace's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Horace.
Decade by decade
Babies named Horace 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 | 48 | 5,529 | – |
| 1930s | 46 | 8,126 | #174 |
| 1940s | 26 | 6,876 | #225 |
| 1950s | 27 | 5,719 | #311 |
| 1960s | 16 | 3,138 | #442 |
| 1970s | 0 | 1,816 | #682 |
| 1980s | 0 | 1,118 | #912 |
| 1990s | 0 | 753 | #1,420 |
| 2000s | 0 | 384 | #2,975 |
| 2010s | 0 | 262 | #4,339 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 107 | #6,245 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
42.2% of babies named Horace from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Horace is most popular
The index compares Horace'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 Horace.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Georgia | 4.91× | 4,225 |
| Alabama | 4.82× | 2,656 |
| South Carolina | 4.62× | 2,015 |
| North Carolina | 3.39× | 2,993 |
| Mississippi | 3.09× | 1,166 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Horace's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Horace.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Horace (1880).
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