Bellamy
A masculine French name meaning "good friend" or "fine friend".
Name Census estimates that about 5,995 living Americans carry the first name Bellamy. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Bellamy today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bellamy births was 2022 (850 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bellamy. 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 Bellamy with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Bellamy sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Bellamy is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 6 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.0K
~ 1 in 57,173 Americans
Peak year
2022
850 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#690
Tracked since 1993
Census
Bellamy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,274 people with the first name Bellamy, which placed it at #6,888 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
#6,888
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,274 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bellamy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bellamy is White at 60.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.6%) and Black (9.7%). 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 Bellamy 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 Bellamy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.9% · 1,385
- Hispanic or Latino17.6% · 400
- Black or African American9.7% · 220
- Two or more races9.0% · 204
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 41
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 24
Gender
Gender distribution for Bellamy
Bellamy is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 6,035 total registrations, 2,634 (43.6%) were male and 3,401 (56.4%) were female.
Bellamy as a male name
- Ranked #690 in 2024
- 390 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (447 births)
Bellamy as a female name
- Ranked #861 in 2024
- 312 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (408 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bellamy on both sides of the split. Of the 2,272 people counted with this name, 663 were male (29.2%) and 1,609 were female (70.8%).
Popularity
Bellamy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bellamy from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 3,725 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bellamy 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 Bellamy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bellamys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Bellamy, while New Hampshire, North Dakota, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 115 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bellamy
The name Bellamy is of French origin, derived from the combination of the words "belle" meaning "beautiful" and "ami" meaning "friend." It was initially used as a surname during the Middle Ages, likely emerging in the 12th or 13th century.
While the exact origin of the name is uncertain, it is believed to have arisen as a descriptive nickname or as a reference to a person's character or physical appearance. The name may have been bestowed upon someone considered a beautiful or cherished friend.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bellamy can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as a surname, indicating its usage during that era.
In the 14th century, the name Bellamy appeared in several literary works, including Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales." Chaucer featured a character named "Bellamy" in his iconic work, further solidifying the name's presence in the English language.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bellamy. One such person was Jacobus Bellamy (1757-1786), a Dutch-born painter known for his landscapes and portraits. Another notable figure was Edward Bellamy (1850-1898), an American writer and advocate for social reform, best known for his utopian novel "Looking Backward."
In the realm of literature, the name Bellamy is associated with Edward Bellamy (1850-1898), the author of the influential utopian novel "Looking Backward." His work explored societal issues and proposed a vision of an ideal society, inspiring subsequent writers and thinkers.
The name also gained prominence in the world of acting and entertainment. Actors such as Ralph Bellamy (1904-1991), an American actor known for his roles in films like "His Girl Friday" and "The Awful Truth," and Ned Bellamy (1925-2005), a British actor best known for his role in the television series "Upstairs, Downstairs," carried the name Bellamy.
Another notable figure was Joseph Bellamy (1719-1790), an American Congregationalist minister and theologian known for his influential sermons and theological writings, which played a significant role in shaping the religious landscape of colonial New England.
These examples illustrate the historical presence and cultural significance of the name Bellamy, which has been borne by individuals across various fields, including art, literature, acting, and religion, over several centuries.
People
Bellamy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bellamy 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
Bellamy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bellamy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,995 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bellamy 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 57,173 US residents.
Is Bellamy a common name?
We classify Bellamy as "Rare". It ranks above 96.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,035 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bellamy most popular?
The single biggest year for Bellamy was 2022, when 850 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bellamy is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bellamy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,274 people with the name Bellamy, or 0.75 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,888 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 Bellamy 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 Bellamy?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bellamy on both sides of the split. Of the 2,272 people counted with this name, 663 were male (29.2%) and 1,609 were female (70.8%). 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 Bellamy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bellamy is White at 60.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.6%) and Black (9.7%). 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 Bellamy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bellamy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.9% (1,385 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 Bellamy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bellamy a female name?
Yes, 56.4% of people registered as Bellamy in the SSA data are female. 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 Bellamy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bellamy 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 Bellamy 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 Bellamy?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.