Curly
Having curled or curly hair; from an adjective describing curly hair.
Name Census estimates that about 90 living Americans carry the first name Curly. It is a predominantly male name (97.5% of registrations). The average person named Curly today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Curly births was 1923 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Curly. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Curly is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Curlys were born before 1963.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Curly. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
90
~ 1 in 3,808,382 Americans
Peak year
1923
15 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1977 SSA rank
#4,499
Tracked since 1913
Census
Curly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 468 people with the first name Curly, which placed it at #21,612 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
#21,612
National first-name rank
People counted
468
468 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
44.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Curly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Curly is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Curly 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 Curly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White44.9% · 210
- Black or African American36.1% · 169
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 15
- Two or more races3.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Curly
Curly leans heavily male at 97.5% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Curly as a male name
- Ranked #5,254 in 1977
- 6 male births in 1977
- Peak: 1957 (11 births)
Curly as a female name
- Ranked #4,499 in 1923
- 6 female births in 1923
- Peak: 1923 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Curly on both sides of the split. Of the 471 people counted with this name, 303 were male (64.3%) and 168 were female (35.7%).
Popularity
Curly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Curly from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 47 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Curly 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 Curly 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 Curly
The name Curly is an English nickname derived from the word "curl," which refers to the curling or twisting of something, particularly hair. It likely originated as a descriptive name given to individuals with naturally curly or wavy hair.
The earliest recorded use of the name Curly dates back to the late 19th century, when it became a popular nickname in English-speaking countries, particularly in the United States. One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name was Curly Lambeau, an American football player and coach who was born in 1898 and is credited with founding the Green Bay Packers.
Another famous bearer of the name was Curly Howard, an American comedian and actor who was born in 1903 and was part of the iconic comedy trio The Three Stooges. His unique curly hair and comedic talents made him a beloved figure in the world of slapstick comedy.
In the world of music, Curly Putman was an American songwriter born in 1925 who wrote several hit songs for country music artists, including "Green Green Grass of Home" and "He Stopped Loving Her Today."
In the realm of literature, Curly Culp was the pen name of American writer and playwright Robert Culp, who was born in 1924 and is best known for his work on the television series "I Spy."
Lastly, Curly Seckler was an American bluegrass musician born in 1919 who played the mandolin and was a member of the iconic bluegrass band Flatt and Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Boys.
While the name Curly may have originated as a descriptive nickname, it has become a beloved and iconic name in various fields, from sports and entertainment to literature and music, thanks to the notable individuals who have borne it throughout history.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Curly
People
Curly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Curly 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
Curly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Curly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 90 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Curly 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 3,808,382 US residents.
Is Curly a common name?
We classify Curly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 236 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Curly most popular?
The single biggest year for Curly was 1923, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Curly is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Curly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 468 people with the name Curly, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,612 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 Curly 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 Curly?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Curly on both sides of the split. Of the 471 people counted with this name, 303 were male (64.3%) and 168 were female (35.7%). 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 Curly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Curly is White at 44.9%. The next largest groups are Black (36.1%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Curly most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Curly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.9% (210 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 Curly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Curly a male name?
Yes, 97.5% of people registered as Curly 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 Curly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Curly 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 Curly 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 Curly?
See how many Americans are named Curly on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.