Pollard
A masculine name derived from an occupational surname referring to a person who pollards trees.
Name Census estimates that about 9 living Americans carry the first name Pollard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Pollard today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pollard births was 1919 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pollard. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Pollard. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
9
~ 1 in 38,083,815 Americans
Peak year
1919
7 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1968 SSA rank
#4,593
Tracked since 1916
Popularity
Pollard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pollard from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Pollard remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pollard 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 Pollard 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 Pollard
The given name Pollard is an English name that originated in the late Middle Ages. It is derived from an occupational surname referring to someone who pollarded trees, which means to cut off the tops of trees or branches to promote growth of a thick head of branches and foliage. The name comes from the Old English word "poll" meaning "head" and the suffix "-ard" meaning "one who does".
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Pollard dates back to the 13th century in England. In 1273, a man named Warin Pollard was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Cambridgeshire. The Hundred Rolls were administrative records compiled in England during the reign of King Edward I.
In the 14th century, a man named John Pollard was mentioned in the Patent Rolls of 1349, which were records of royal grants and appointments. He was described as a "pollard" or tree trimmer by profession.
The name Pollard also appears in some literary works from the Middle Ages. In the 14th century poem "Piers Plowman" by William Langland, a character named Pollard is mentioned as a representative of the working class.
One of the earliest known people with the given name Pollard was Sir Hugh Pollard (c. 1470 - 1555), an English landowner and Member of Parliament during the reign of King Henry VIII.
In the 16th century, there was a notable figure named Pollard Pierpont (1530 - 1594), an English merchant and ambassador who served under Queen Elizabeth I.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, a man named Pollard Whitelocke (1605 - 1676) was a prominent lawyer and politician who supported the parliamentary cause against King Charles I.
In the 18th century, Pollard Dickinson (1714 - 1795) was a British lawyer and politician who served as the Chief Baron of the Exchequer.
In the 19th century, Pollard Urquhart (1815 - 1887) was a Scottish writer and diplomat who served as the British Consul in Chile and later in China.
People
Pollard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pollard 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
Pollard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pollard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pollard 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 38,083,815 US residents.
Is Pollard a common name?
We classify Pollard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 25.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pollard most popular?
The single biggest year for Pollard was 1919, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pollard is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Pollard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pollard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pollard 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 Pollard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pollard 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 Pollard 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Pollard?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.