Boss
An English masculine name derived from the word meaning "supervisor" or "master".
Name Census estimates that about 216 living Americans carry the first name Boss. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Boss today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Boss births was 2018 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Boss. 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.
People living today
216
~ 1 in 1,586,826 Americans
Peak year
2018
16 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,072
Tracked since 1881
Census
Boss in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 546 people with the first name Boss, which placed it at #19,393 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
#19,393
National first-name rank
People counted
546
546 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Boss
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Boss is White at 49.5%. The next largest groups are Black (22.7%) and Hispanic (12.6%). 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 Boss 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 Boss at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.5% · 270
- Black or African American22.7% · 124
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 43
- Two or more races4.9% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 13
Popularity
Boss: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Boss from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 123 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Boss remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Boss 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 Boss during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Boss
The name Boss is an English word derived from the Dutch word "baas," which means master or leader. It is believed to have originated in the late 16th century and was initially used as a term of respect for a person in a position of authority or leadership.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Boss can be found in the writings of English playwright William Shakespeare. In his play "The Taming of the Shrew," written around 1592, one of the characters is referred to as "Boss Petruccio," suggesting that the name was already in use during that time period.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Boss was often associated with individuals who held prominent positions in society, such as landowners, merchants, or military leaders. One notable figure was Boss Tweed (1823-1878), an American politician and leader of the Tammany Hall political machine in New York City.
During the Industrial Revolution, the name Boss became more widely used to refer to individuals who were in charge of factories, businesses, or other enterprises. It was a term that conveyed respect and authority, and was often used to address the owners or managers of companies.
In the 20th century, the name Boss gained popularity as a first name, particularly in English-speaking countries. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Boss Rutten (born 1965), a Dutch mixed martial artist and actor known for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
Other notable individuals named Boss include Boss Bailey (born 1979), an American football player who played in the National Football League (NFL), and Boss Tenors (born 1985), an American rapper and songwriter from Chicago.
While the name Boss is primarily associated with English-speaking cultures, it has also been adopted in other parts of the world, particularly in countries with historical ties to the Dutch or English language. However, its use as a first name remains relatively rare compared to its more common usage as a title or term of respect.
People
Boss + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Boss 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
Boss: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Boss?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 216 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Boss 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 1,586,826 US residents.
Is Boss a common name?
We classify Boss as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 444 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Boss most popular?
The single biggest year for Boss was 2018, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Boss is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Boss in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 546 people with the name Boss, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,393 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 Boss 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 Boss?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Boss on both sides of the split. Of the 545 people counted with this name, 431 were male (79.1%) and 114 were female (20.9%). 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 Boss?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Boss is White at 49.5%. The next largest groups are Black (22.7%) and Hispanic (12.6%). 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 Boss most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Boss in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.5% (270 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 Boss in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Boss a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Boss 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 Boss still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Boss 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 Boss 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 people are called Boss?
You can see how many Americans are named Boss on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.