Bane
A masculine name meaning "destruction, ruin" from Old French.
Name Census estimates that about 1,013 living Americans carry the first name Bane. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bane today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bane births was 2013 (121 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bane. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Bane with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Bane is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 338,356 Americans
Peak year
2013
121 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,159
Tracked since 1997
Census
Bane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 821 people with the first name Bane, which placed it at #14,378 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,378
National first-name rank
People counted
821
821 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bane is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.1%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Bane described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Bane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.6% · 580
- Hispanic or Latino16.1% · 132
- Two or more races7.7% · 63
- Black or African American2.8% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 6
Popularity
Bane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bane from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 664 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bane remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bane by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Bane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Banes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Bane, while Utah, North Carolina, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bane
The name Bane has its origins in the Old English language, deriving from the word "bana," which means "slayer" or "killer." It is believed to have emerged as a name during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, roughly between the 5th and 11th centuries AD. The name was commonly used to refer to someone who was seen as a formidable warrior or a bringer of destruction.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Bane can be found in the medieval epic poem "Beowulf," which is considered one of the most important works of Old English literature. In this poem, the character Bane is depicted as a fierce warrior who battles against the monster Grendel. This association with bravery and heroism likely contributed to the name's popularity among the Anglo-Saxons.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bane. One of the earliest examples is Bane the Cruel, a Viking chieftain who lived in the 9th century AD and was known for his ruthless raids along the coasts of Europe. Another notable figure was Bane the Brash, a legendary English outlaw from the 12th century, who was said to have robbed from the rich and given to the poor, much like the folk hero Robin Hood.
In the 13th century, a French crusader named Bane de Châtillon gained fame for his exploits during the Seventh Crusade, where he fought alongside King Louis IX of France. His bravery and skill in battle earned him the nickname "Bane the Bold."
During the Renaissance period, a Italian artist named Bane Astolfo (1460-1542) made a name for himself as a skilled painter and sculptor, contributing to the flourishing of the arts in Italy during that time.
In more recent times, one of the most well-known individuals with the name Bane was Bane Nindžić (1912-1988), a Serbian partisan fighter who played a crucial role in the resistance against Nazi occupation during World War II. He later became a prominent political figure in the former Yugoslavia.
While the name Bane may have originated from a word associated with violence and destruction, its historical usage has often been linked to bravery, heroism, and the pursuit of justice. The name continues to hold a powerful and evocative quality, reflecting the enduring legacy of its Anglo-Saxon roots.
People
Bane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bane as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Bane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,013 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bane going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 338,356 US residents.
Is Bane a common name?
We classify Bane as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,021 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bane most popular?
The single biggest year for Bane was 2013, when 121 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bane is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 821 people with the name Bane, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,378 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Bane in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Bane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bane leans strongly male. 795 people counted with this name were male (96.7%), compared with 27 female bearers (3.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Bane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bane is White at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (16.1%) and Two or More Races (7.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Bane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (580 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Bane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bane a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bane in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Bane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bane in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Bane can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Bane?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.