Drake
A masculine name of English origin referring to a drake, or male duck.
Name Census estimates that about 35,765 living Americans carry the first name Drake. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Drake today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Drake births was 2010 (1,885 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Drake. 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 Drake with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Drake is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 83 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
36K
~ 1 in 9,584 Americans
Peak year
2010
1,885 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#661
Tracked since 1918
Census
Drake in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 31,588 people with the first name Drake, which placed it at #1,219 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
#1,219
National first-name rank
People counted
32K
31,588 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
10.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Drake
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Drake is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Drake 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 Drake at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.9% · 24,278
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 2,763
- Two or more races6.5% · 2,044
- Black or African American5.1% · 1,602
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 558
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 343
Gender
Gender distribution for Drake
Out of the 36,572 babies given the name Drake since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Drake as a male name
- Ranked #661 in 2024
- 414 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2010 (1,877 births)
Drake as a female name
- Ranked #15,752 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 1997 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Drake appears almost entirely male. Of the 31,584 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Drake: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Drake from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 13,562 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Drake 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 Drake during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Drakes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Drake, while Delaware, Connecticut, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 707 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Drake
The name Drake has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the word "draca," which means "dragon" or "serpent." This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, between the 5th and 11th centuries AD.
The name Drake is believed to have been initially used as a surname, referring to someone who was brave or had a fierce demeanor, akin to a dragon. It later transitioned into a given name, likely influenced by its association with strength and courage.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Drake can be found in the Domesday Book, a medieval census commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Drache" and "Draco," further emphasizing its connection to the word "dragon."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Drake. One of the most famous was Sir Francis Drake, an English sea captain, navigator, and explorer who lived from 1540 to 1596. He was renowned for his circumnavigation of the globe and his pivotal role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada.
Another prominent figure was Sir Francis Drake's cousin, Sir Bernard Drake, a British naval officer who served during the 17th century. He played a significant role in the Second Anglo-Dutch War and the Raid on the Medway.
In literature, the name Drake appears in various works, including the epic poem "Beowulf," where a dragon is a central antagonist. This further reinforces the name's association with mythical creatures and strength.
Other notable individuals with the name Drake include Drake Relays founder John L. Griffith (1885-1944), an American track and field athlete, and Drake Samuel Bakker (1892-1964), a Canadian politician and lawyer.
The name Drake has also been used in various forms of media, such as movies, television shows, and video games, often associated with characters who possess bravery, determination, or a fierce persona.
People
Drake + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Drake as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Drake: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Drake?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 35,765 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Drake 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 9,584 US residents.
Is Drake a common name?
We classify Drake as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 36,572 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Drake most popular?
The single biggest year for Drake was 2010, when 1,885 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Drake is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Drake in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 31,588 people with the name Drake, or 10.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,219 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 Drake 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 Drake?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Drake appears almost entirely male. Of the 31,584 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Drake?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Drake is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Drake most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Drake in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (24,278 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 Drake in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Drake a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Drake 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 Drake still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Drake 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 Drake 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 have Drake as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Drake on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.