Buffie
A diminutive of the name Elizabeth, of English origin.
Name Census estimates that about 772 living Americans carry the first name Buffie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Buffie today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Buffie births was 1970 (92 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Buffie. 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
772
~ 1 in 443,982 Americans
Peak year
1970
92 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1985 SSA rank
#9,442
Tracked since 1954
Census
Buffie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 671 people with the first name Buffie, which placed it at #16,695 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
#16,695
National first-name rank
People counted
671
671 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Buffie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Buffie is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Buffie 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 Buffie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 546
- Black or African American11.0% · 74
- Two or more races3.4% · 23
- Hispanic or Latino2.5% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
Popularity
Buffie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Buffie from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 576 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Buffie 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 Buffie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Buffies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Georgia, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Buffie, while Virginia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Buffie
The name Buffie is believed to have originated from the Old French word "buffe," which means "to strike" or "to buffet." This name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in France and was initially used as a nickname or pet name for someone who was considered a rough or boisterous individual.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Buffie can be found in the 13th-century French poem "Roman de la Rose," where it is mentioned as a character's name. However, it is important to note that the spelling and pronunciation of names during this period were often inconsistent, and the name may have appeared in various forms.
In the 16th century, a French noblewoman named Buffie de Montmorency was known for her involvement in the French Wars of Religion. She was born in 1547 and died in 1615. Her name became associated with the Protestant Huguenot movement, which she supported.
Another notable figure with the name Buffie was Buffie Lamartine, a French poet and political figure who lived from 1790 to 1869. He is best known for his romantic poetry and his involvement in the French Revolution of 1848.
In the 19th century, Buffie Gautier was a French novelist and art critic who lived from 1811 to 1872. He was a prominent figure in the Parisian literary and artistic circles of his time and is remembered for his works such as "Mademoiselle de Maupin" and "Captain Fracasse."
Moving to the 20th century, Buffie Apollinaire was a French poet and critic who lived from 1880 to 1918. He was a leading figure in the avant-garde literary movement and is known for his experimental poetry and his involvement in the development of Cubism and Surrealism.
While the name Buffie has its roots in French history and culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world. However, it is important to note that the name's popularity and usage have varied over time and across different regions.
People
Buffie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Buffie 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
Buffie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Buffie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 772 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Buffie 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 443,982 US residents.
Is Buffie a common name?
We classify Buffie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 869 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Buffie most popular?
The single biggest year for Buffie was 1970, when 92 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Buffie is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Buffie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 671 people with the name Buffie, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,695 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 Buffie 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 Buffie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Buffie appears almost entirely female. Of the 673 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Buffie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Buffie is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Black (11.0%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Buffie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Buffie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (546 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 Buffie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Buffie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Buffie 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 Buffie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Buffie 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 Buffie 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 Buffie?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Buffie at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.