Pippin
A diminutive masculine name of Old English/Germanic origin meaning "peaceful little adventurer".
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the first name Pippin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 55.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Pippin today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pippin births was 2022 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pippin. 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 Pippin with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
109
~ 1 in 3,144,535 Americans
Peak year
2022
17 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,628
Tracked since 2009
Census
Pippin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 143 people with the first name Pippin, which placed it at #46,519 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
#46,519
National first-name rank
People counted
143
143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pippin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pippin is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Pippin 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 Pippin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.2% · 119
- Two or more races7.7% · 11
- Black or African American3.5% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Pippin
Pippin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 110 total registrations, 49 (44.5%) were male and 61 (55.5%) were female.
Pippin as a male name
- Ranked #9,628 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (9 births)
Pippin as a female name
- Ranked #11,866 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Pippin on both sides of the split. Of the 151 people counted with this name, 61 were male (40.4%) and 90 were female (59.6%).
Popularity
Pippin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pippin from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 53 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
Pippin 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 Pippin 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 Pippin
The name Pippin is of Germanic origin, derived from the Old Frankish name Pippin or Pipin, which itself is a diminutive form of the Germanic name Pipino. The name is thought to have originated in the 7th century AD, during the Merovingian dynasty of the Franks.
The name Pippin is closely associated with the Carolingian dynasty, which ruled the Frankish Empire from the late 7th to the late 9th century. One of the most notable historical figures bearing this name was Pippin the Short (714-768), the first Carolingian king of the Franks. He was the father of Charlemagne, one of the most influential rulers in European history.
Another prominent figure with the name Pippin was Pippin of Landen (580-640), a nobleman and courtier who served as the Mayor of the Palace under the Merovingian kings. He played a significant role in establishing the power of the Carolingian dynasty.
In the realm of literature, the name Pippin appears in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy novel "The Lord of the Rings." Pippin, also known as Peregrin Took, was one of the main hobbit characters and a member of the Fellowship of the Ring.
The name Pippin has also been borne by several historical figures in various parts of Europe. Pippin I (d. 640) was the first hereditary mayor of the palace in the Frankish kingdom of Austrasia. Pippin II (635-714), also known as Pippin of Heristal, was a mayor of the palace and the founder of the Carolingian dynasty.
Pippin III (714-768), better known as Pippin the Short, was the first Carolingian king of the Franks and the father of Charlemagne. He played a crucial role in the transition from the Merovingian to the Carolingian dynasty.
While the name Pippin has its roots in the early medieval period, it has continued to be used throughout history, although with varying degrees of popularity. The name's association with the Carolingian dynasty and its prominence in literature have contributed to its enduring appeal.
People
Pippin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pippin as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pippin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pippin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pippin 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 3,144,535 US residents.
Is Pippin a common name?
We classify Pippin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 110 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pippin most popular?
The single biggest year for Pippin was 2022, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pippin is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pippin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 143 people with the name Pippin, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,519 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 Pippin 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 Pippin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Pippin on both sides of the split. Of the 151 people counted with this name, 61 were male (40.4%) and 90 were female (59.6%). 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 Pippin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pippin is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.7%) and Black (3.5%). 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 Pippin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pippin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.2% (119 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 Pippin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pippin a female name?
Yes, 55.5% of people registered as Pippin 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 Pippin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pippin 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 Pippin 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 Pippin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.