Cove
A small coastal bay or inlet with calm waters.
Name Census estimates that about 1,412 living Americans carry the first name Cove. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Cove today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cove births was 2024 (248 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cove. 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 Cove with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Cove 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 242,744 Americans
Peak year
2024
248 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,207
Tracked since 1997
Census
Cove in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 556 people with the first name Cove, which placed it at #19,177 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
#19,177
National first-name rank
People counted
556
556 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cove
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cove is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) 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 Cove 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 Cove at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.1% · 451
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 44
- Two or more races7.7% · 43
- Black or African American1.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Cove
Cove is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,422 total registrations, 1,050 (73.8%) were male and 372 (26.2%) were female.
Cove as a male name
- Ranked #1,207 in 2024
- 167 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (167 births)
Cove as a female name
- Ranked #2,279 in 2024
- 81 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (94 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cove leans strongly male. 474 people counted with this name were male (86.3%), compared with 75 female bearers (13.7%).
Popularity
Cove: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cove 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 912 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
Cove 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 Cove during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Coves live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Utah, Texas recorded the most babies named Cove, while Virginia, Oregon, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cove
The name Cove has its origins in Old English and Middle English, derived from the word "cove," which originally referred to a small coastal inlet or bay. It is believed to have been used as a surname initially, referring to people who lived near or worked in such coastal areas.
In its earliest recorded use as a given name, Cove appears to have emerged in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in England and parts of the British Isles. Some historical records suggest it may have been used as a diminutive or nickname for names like Coventry or Coveney.
While not commonly found in ancient texts or religious scriptures, the name Cove does have a few notable historical references. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Cove Jones, an English sailor and explorer who was part of Sir Walter Raleigh's expeditions to the Americas in the late 16th century.
Another prominent figure was Cove Sydenham (1615-1654), an English parliamentarian and supporter of Oliver Cromwell during the English Civil War. He played a significant role in the establishment of the Commonwealth of England.
In the 18th century, Cove Borlase (1738-1809) was a prominent English antiquarian and naturalist, known for his contributions to the study of geology and Cornish history.
Moving into the 19th century, Cove Higginson (1823-1911) was an American author, minister, and abolitionist, who wrote extensively about social reforms and served as a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
More recently, Cove Cameron (1925-2001) was an American actor and stuntman, best known for his work in Western films and television shows, including appearances in popular series like "Gunsmoke" and "Bonanza."
While not an exhaustive list, these examples illustrate the historical presence and use of the name Cove across different periods and contexts, ranging from exploration and military service to literature and the arts.
People
Cove + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cove as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cove: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cove?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,412 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cove 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 242,744 US residents.
Is Cove a common name?
We classify Cove as "Rare". It ranks above 92.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,422 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cove most popular?
The single biggest year for Cove was 2024, when 248 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cove 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 Cove in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 556 people with the name Cove, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,177 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 Cove 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 Cove?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cove leans strongly male. 474 people counted with this name were male (86.3%), compared with 75 female bearers (13.7%). 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 Cove?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cove is White at 81.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.9%) 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 Cove most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cove in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.1% (451 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 Cove in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cove a male name?
Yes, 73.8% of people registered as Cove 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 Cove still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cove 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 Cove 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 Cove?
You can see how many people have the name Cove on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.