Echo
From the Greek word meaning "reverberation" or "reflection of sound".
Name Census estimates that about 4,536 living Americans carry the first name Echo. It is a predominantly female name (92.9% of registrations). The average person named Echo today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Echo births was 2021 (190 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Echo. 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 Echo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.5K
~ 1 in 75,563 Americans
Peak year
2021
190 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,693
Tracked since 1888
Census
Echo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,694 people with the first name Echo, which placed it at #4,862 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
#4,862
National first-name rank
People counted
3.7K
3,694 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Echo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Echo is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Echo 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 Echo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.0% · 2,698
- Two or more races7.6% · 280
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 265
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 188
- Black or African American3.7% · 136
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.4% · 127
Gender
Gender distribution for Echo
Echo leans heavily female at 92.9% of total registrations, but 365 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Echo as a male name
- Ranked #3,529 in 2024
- 32 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (56 births)
Echo as a female name
- Ranked #1,693 in 2024
- 120 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1984 (182 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Echo leans strongly female. 3,442 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 245 male bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Echo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Echo from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 994 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
Echo 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 Echo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Echos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. California, Texas, Washington recorded the most babies named Echo, while Wyoming, North Dakota, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Echo
The name Echo has its origins in Greek mythology, where it was the name given to an Oread nymph. The word "echo" itself comes from the Greek ēchō, meaning "sound" or "to resound." In Greek mythology, Echo was a talkative nymph who was cursed by Hera to only repeat the last words spoken to her, after she intentionally distracted the goddess to prevent her from discovering Zeus's affairs.
The earliest recorded use of the name Echo can be traced back to ancient Greek literature, such as Ovid's Metamorphoses, where the story of Echo and Narcissus is recounted. In this tale, Echo falls in love with the beautiful Narcissus, but her curse prevents her from expressing her feelings directly. Narcissus ultimately rejects her, leading to her eventual demise as she wastes away until only her voice remains.
Throughout history, the name Echo has been used by various individuals, though not as commonly as some other names. One notable bearer of the name was Echo Hawk, a Native American activist and actress born in 1948. She was part of the American Indian Movement and played a role in the occupation of Alcatraz Island in 1969.
Another famous Echo was Echo Chernik, a Russian-American dancer and choreographer born in 1909. She was a pioneer in the field of modern dance and founded the Echo Chernik Dance Company in New York City.
In literature, one of the most well-known characters named Echo is from the novel "The Cry of the Sloth" by Sam Savage, published in 2009. Echo is the protagonist of the story, an eccentric and reclusive woman who becomes obsessed with sloths.
Other notable individuals named Echo include Echo Everly, an American singer and songwriter born in 1986, and Echo Sackey, a Ghanaian actress and television personality born in 1987.
While not as common as some other names, Echo has a rich history rooted in Greek mythology and has been carried by individuals from various cultures and backgrounds throughout the centuries.
People
Echo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Echo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Echo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Echo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,536 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Echo 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 75,563 US residents.
Is Echo a common name?
We classify Echo as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,115 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Echo most popular?
The single biggest year for Echo was 2021, when 190 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Echo is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Echo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,694 people with the name Echo, or 1.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,862 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 Echo 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 Echo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Echo leans strongly female. 3,442 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 245 male bearers (6.6%). 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 Echo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Echo is White at 73.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.6%) and Hispanic (7.2%). 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 Echo most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Echo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.0% (2,698 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 Echo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Echo a female name?
Yes, 92.9% of people registered as Echo 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 Echo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Echo 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 Echo 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 named Echo?
Find out how many people share the name Echo on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.