Boys' name · peaked in 1959
Perry name popularity since 1925
69,566 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Perry (4.8% girls, 95.2% boys). Half of them were born in 1960 or earlier, so the typical Perry is about 66 years old in 2026. Perry peaked in 1959 as the #132 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 69,566
- Named Perry, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,373 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 95.2% boys
- 3,361 girls · 66,205 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 2.69× its national share
Peak year is the year Perry 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.
Perry births per year, 1925–2025
1959 was the biggest year for Perry both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1954 and 1959, Perry became 2.1× more common, from 1 in 1,630 baby boys to 1 in 776.
- Steepest fall: Between 1967 and 1972, its share of baby boys fell by 43%, from 1 in 1,720 to 1 in 2,990.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Perry's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Perry.
Decade by decade
Babies named Perry 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 | 119 | 2,926 | – |
| 1930s | 188 | 5,411 | #227 |
| 1940s | 274 | 7,778 | #208 |
| 1950s | 286 | 17,078 | #183 |
| 1960s | 235 | 15,121 | #186 |
| 1970s | 140 | 5,351 | #350 |
| 1980s | 219 | 4,604 | #354 |
| 1990s | 290 | 3,602 | #549 |
| 2000s | 283 | 2,083 | #915 |
| 2010s | 719 | 1,391 | #1,280 |
| 2020–25 | 608 | 860 | #1,373 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
45.1% of babies named Perry from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Perry is most popular
The index compares Perry'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 Perry.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 2.69× | 2,080 |
| Louisiana | 2.19× | 2,510 |
| South Carolina | 2.04× | 1,822 |
| Arkansas | 1.93× | 1,265 |
| Alabama | 1.91× | 2,160 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Perry's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Perry.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Perry (1959).
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