Girls' name · peaked in 1986
Whitney name popularity since 1925
102,983 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Whitney (94.8% girls, 5.2% boys). Half of them were born in 1989 or earlier, so the typical Whitney is about 37 years old in 2026. Whitney peaked in 1986 as the #32 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 102,983
- Named Whitney, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,046 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 94.8% girls
- 97,663 girls · 5,320 boys
- Most popular in
- Utah
- 3.47× its national share
Peak year is the year Whitney 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.
Whitney births per year, 1925–2025
1986 was the biggest year for Whitney both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1981 and 1986, Whitney became 7.1× more common, from 1 in 1,280 baby girls to 1 in 180.
- Steepest fall: Between 1996 and 2001, its share of baby girls fell by 62%, from 1 in 759 to 1 in 2,000.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Whitney's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Whitney.
Decade by decade
Babies named Whitney 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 | 191 | – |
| 1930s | 30 | 327 | Under 5 |
| 1940s | 95 | 416 | #3,381 |
| 1950s | 122 | 507 | #4,063 |
| 1960s | 2,147 | 786 | #553 |
| 1970s | 5,003 | 834 | #458 |
| 1980s | 44,373 | 1,629 | #73 |
| 1990s | 32,886 | 302 | #115 |
| 2000s | 7,182 | 146 | #471 |
| 2010s | 4,323 | 92 | #640 |
| 2020–25 | 1,502 | 90 | #1,046 |
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
70.7% of babies named Whitney from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Millennial years (1981–1996). The full split by generation:
Where Whitney is most popular
The index compares Whitney'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 Whitney.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Utah | 3.47× | 2,919 |
| Kentucky | 2.41× | 3,979 |
| Idaho | 2.26× | 887 |
| Arkansas | 2.19× | 2,223 |
| Tennessee | 2.06× | 4,285 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Whitney 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Whitney (this page) | 97,663 | 1986 |
| Whittney | 1,633 | 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 Whitney's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Whitney.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Whitney (1986).
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