Randall
A masculine name of old German origins meaning "shield bearer" or "wolf shield".
Name Census estimates that about 159,897 living Americans carry the first name Randall. It is a predominantly male name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Randall today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Randall births was 1960 (7,195 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Randall. 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 Randall with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Randall is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,154 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Randall have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
160K
~ 1 in 2,144 Americans
Peak year
1960
7,195 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,612
Tracked since 1880
Census
Randall in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155,627 people with the first name Randall, which placed it at #361 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
#361
National first-name rank
People counted
156K
155,627 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
51.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Randall
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randall is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Black (4.7%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Randall 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 Randall at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.2% · 137,214
- Black or African American4.7% · 7,306
- Two or more races2.6% · 4,076
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 3,763
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 1,932
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1,336
Gender
Gender distribution for Randall
Out of the 199,621 babies given the name Randall since 1880, 99.4% 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.
Randall as a male name
- Ranked #1,612 in 2024
- 106 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (7,168 births)
Randall as a female name
- Ranked #18,165 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1986 (93 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randall appears almost entirely male. Of the 155,628 people counted with this name, 99.6% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Randall: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Randall from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 62,671 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Randall 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 Randall during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Randalls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Randall, while Rhode Island, Delaware, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,821 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Randall
The name Randall has its origins in the Old English language and dates back to the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English words "rand" meaning "rim" or "border," and "healh" meaning "nook" or "corner." The combination of these two words suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived on the outskirts or borders of a settlement.
Randall emerged as a given name in England during the Middle Ages, particularly in the regions of Northumbria and Mercia. It was initially spelled as "Randolf" or "Randulf," with variations such as "Ranulf" and "Randulph" also being used. The name gained popularity among the Anglo-Saxon nobility and was borne by several notable figures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Randall can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This historical document mentions several individuals with the name, including Randulf de Gernon, a Norman nobleman who held lands in Lincolnshire.
Throughout history, the name Randall has been associated with several notable individuals. For example, Randall de Blundeville (c. 1172-1232) was an English nobleman who served as the Earl of Chester and played a significant role in the Barons' War against King John. Another prominent bearer of the name was Randall Holme (1601-1659), an English writer and genealogist known for his work on heraldry and genealogy.
During the Renaissance period, the name Randall was popular among English writers and poets. One example is Randall Cotgrave (c. 1587-1630), a lexicographer and translator who compiled the influential "A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues" in 1611. Another notable figure was Randall Holinshed (c. 1528-1580), an English chronicler who co-authored the influential "Holinshed's Chronicles," a historical work that served as a source for several of Shakespeare's plays.
In more recent times, the name Randall has continued to be used, although its popularity has waned somewhat. One notable bearer of the name was Randall Jarrell (1914-1965), an American poet, literary critic, and novelist who won the National Book Award for his book of poems "The Woman at the Washington Zoo."
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who have borne the name Randall throughout the centuries. The name's enduring presence reflects its rich heritage and strong connections to the medieval English culture and language.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Randall
People
Randall + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Randall as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Randall: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Randall?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 159,897 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Randall 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 2,144 US residents.
Is Randall a common name?
We classify Randall as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 199,621 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Randall most popular?
The single biggest year for Randall was 1960, when 7,195 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Randall is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Randall in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155,627 people with the name Randall, or 51.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #361 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 Randall 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 Randall?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Randall appears almost entirely male. Of the 155,628 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Randall?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Randall is White at 88.2%. The next largest groups are Black (4.7%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Randall most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Randall in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.2% (137,214 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 Randall in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Randall a male name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Randall 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 Randall still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Randall 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 Randall 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 common is the name Randall?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.