Boys' name · peaked in 1927
Rudolph name popularity since 1925
38,275 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Rudolph. Half of them were born in 1946 or earlier, so the typical Rudolph is about 80 years old in 2026. Rudolph peaked in 1927 as the #110 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 38,275
- Named Rudolph, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1927
- #110 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #4,231 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% boys
- 147 girls · 38,128 boys
- Most popular in
- District of Columbia
- 2.30× its national share
Peak year is the year Rudolph 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.
Rudolph births per year, 1925–2025
1927 was the biggest year for Rudolph both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Steepest fall: Between 1956 and 1961, Rudolph's share of baby boys fell by 43%, from 1 in 2,950 to 1 in 5,130.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Rudolph's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Rudolph.
Decade by decade
Babies named Rudolph 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 | 56 | 7,094 | – |
| 1930s | 47 | 8,200 | #181 |
| 1940s | 21 | 6,553 | #235 |
| 1950s | 12 | 6,652 | #281 |
| 1960s | 0 | 3,535 | #426 |
| 1970s | 11 | 2,186 | #588 |
| 1980s | 0 | 1,703 | #705 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,054 | #1,120 |
| 2000s | 0 | 589 | #2,125 |
| 2010s | 0 | 392 | #2,908 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 170 | #4,231 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
37.9% of babies named Rudolph from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Rudolph is most popular
The index compares Rudolph'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 Rudolph.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | 2.30× | 369 |
| South Carolina | 1.83× | 891 |
| Louisiana | 1.66× | 1,035 |
| North Carolina | 1.65× | 1,622 |
| New York | 1.65× | 4,344 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Rudolph's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Rudolph.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Rudolph (1927).
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