Ransome
A masculine given name of English origin meaning "ransom" or "to redeem".
Name Census estimates that about 55 living Americans carry the first name Ransome. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ransome today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ransome births was 1934 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ransome. 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 Ransome. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
55
~ 1 in 6,231,897 Americans
Peak year
1934
12 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
2013 SSA rank
#11,830
Tracked since 1915
Census
Ransome in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 169 people with the first name Ransome, which placed it at #42,487 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
#42,487
National first-name rank
People counted
169
169 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ransome
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ransome is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%). 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 Ransome 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 Ransome at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.6% · 99
- Black or African American28.4% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 7
- Two or more races4.1% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 3
Popularity
Ransome: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ransome from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 34 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ransome 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 Ransome 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 Ransome
The name Ransome is of English origin and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is thought to be derived from the Old English words "ransum" or "ransun," which referred to a payment made to secure the release of a prisoner or captive. This suggests that the name may have originally been an occupational name for someone who collected ransoms or worked in a related field.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ransome can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landowners and their holdings commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Ransum" in this important historical record.
In the 13th century, there is a reference to a man named Ransome de Stokes in the Pipe Rolls of Gloucestershire from 1230. This suggests that the name had become established as a surname by this time.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the given name Ransome was Ransome Holme (1627-1699), an English heraldic writer and genealogist. He is best known for his work "The Academy of Armory," which was a comprehensive guide to heraldry published in 1688.
Another notable individual with the name Ransome was Ransome Kenrick (1741-1822), an English physician and author. He wrote several medical treatises and also published works on natural history and philosophy.
In the 19th century, Ransome Gillett Holditch (1804-1878) was a notable English civil engineer who worked on various railway projects, including the construction of the Great Western Railway.
One of the most famous individuals named Ransome was the English author Arthur Ransome (1884-1967). He is best known for his classic children's book series, "Swallows and Amazons," which was inspired by his experiences sailing and camping in the Lake District.
Another notable figure with the name Ransome was Ransome Arthur Sutton (1891-1960), a British businessman and philanthropist who founded the Sutton Trust, a charitable organization that promotes social mobility through education.
While the name Ransome has its origins in the Middle Ages and has been associated with various notable individuals throughout history, it is relatively uncommon as a given name today, particularly compared to its more widespread use as a surname.
People
Ransome + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ransome 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
Ransome: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ransome?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 55 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ransome 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 6,231,897 US residents.
Is Ransome a common name?
We classify Ransome as "Very Rare". It ranks above 55.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ransome most popular?
The single biggest year for Ransome was 1934, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ransome is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ransome in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 169 people with the name Ransome, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,487 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 Ransome 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 Ransome?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ransome leans strongly male. 158 people counted with this name were male (96.3%), compared with 6 female bearers (3.7%). 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 Ransome?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ransome is White at 58.6%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%). 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 Ransome most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ransome in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.6% (99 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 Ransome in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ransome a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ransome 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 Ransome still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ransome 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 Ransome 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 called Ransome?
Find out how many people share the name Ransome on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.