Major
A masculine name derived from the military rank of the same name.
Name Census estimates that about 15,722 living Americans carry the first name Major. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Major today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Major births was 2017 (1,050 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Major. 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 Major with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Major is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 76 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,801 Americans
Peak year
2017
1,050 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#580
Tracked since 1880
Census
Major in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,227 people with the first name Major, which placed it at #2,427 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
#2,427
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,227 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
59.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Major
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Major is Black at 59.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.0%) and Two or More Races (8.0%). 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 Major 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 Major at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American59.5% · 6,086
- White23.0% · 2,352
- Two or more races8.0% · 815
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 612
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 279
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 83
Gender
Gender distribution for Major
Out of the 21,331 babies given the name Major since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Major as a male name
- Ranked #580 in 2024
- 490 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (1,042 births)
Major as a female name
- Ranked #16,724 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Major leans strongly male. 10,114 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 118 female bearers (1.2%).
Popularity
Major: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Major 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 7,650 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Major remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Major 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 Major during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Majors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Major, while Delaware, Oregon, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 422 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Major
The name Major has its origins in the Latin word "maior", which means "greater" or "larger". It was initially used as a title or rank in the military, referring to a senior officer. The name Major first emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, in various European countries with strong military traditions, such as France, Spain, and Italy.
In the early days, Major was not a common first name but rather a title or rank bestowed upon experienced and respected military leaders. As time passed, it gradually transitioned into a given name, particularly in English-speaking countries like Britain and the United States.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Major as a first name dates back to the 16th century. Major Thomas Wiat, an English poet and diplomat, was born around 1503 and played a significant role in introducing the sonnet form to English literature.
During the 17th century, Major became a more widely adopted first name, often given to sons of military families or those with aspirations for their children to pursue a military career. One notable figure from this era was Major John Desborough (1608-1680), an English soldier and politician who served as a Member of Parliament during the English Civil War.
In the 18th century, the name Major gained further popularity, particularly in the American colonies. Major Joseph Hawley (1723-1788) was a prominent American lawyer and patriot who played a crucial role in the early stages of the American Revolution.
As the 19th century unfolded, Major became a more common first name, transcending its strictly military associations. Major Walter Reed (1851-1902) was an American physician who made groundbreaking contributions to the understanding and prevention of yellow fever.
Another notable figure from this era was Major Walter Taylor (1838-1925), a Confederate staff officer during the American Civil War, who later became a prominent businessman and philanthropist.
In the 20th century, the name Major continued to be used, although it became less prevalent than in previous eras. Major Robert H. Lawrence Jr. (1935-1967) was an American aviator and the first African American astronaut, tragically killed in a training accident.
While the name Major has its roots in military history, it has evolved over time to become a unique and distinctive first name, transcending its original meaning and associations.
People
Major + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Major as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Major: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Major?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,722 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Major 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 21,801 US residents.
Is Major a common name?
We classify Major as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 21,331 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Major most popular?
The single biggest year for Major was 2017, when 1,050 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Major 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 Major in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,227 people with the name Major, or 3.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,427 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 Major 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 Major?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Major leans strongly male. 10,114 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 118 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Major?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Major is Black at 59.5%. The next largest groups are White (23.0%) and Two or More Races (8.0%). 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 Major most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Major in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.5% (6,086 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 Major in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Major a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Major 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 Major still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Major 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 Major 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 share the name Major?
Want to know how many people have the name Major? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.