Suede
French origin, referring to soft and supple leather or fabric.
Name Census estimates that about 362 living Americans carry the first name Suede. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 77.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Suede today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Suede births was 2024 (112 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Suede. 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.
People living today
362
~ 1 in 946,835 Americans
Peak year
2024
112 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,963
Tracked since 1992
Census
Suede in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 177 people with the first name Suede, which placed it at #41,393 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
#41,393
National first-name rank
People counted
177
177 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Suede
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suede is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Black (15.3%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Suede 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 Suede at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.0% · 108
- Black or African American15.3% · 27
- Hispanic or Latino10.7% · 19
- Two or more races7.9% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Suede
Suede is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 365 total registrations, 281 (77.0%) were male and 84 (23.0%) were female.
Suede as a male name
- Ranked #1,963 in 2024
- 80 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (80 births)
Suede as a female name
- Ranked #4,442 in 2024
- 32 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (32 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Suede on both sides of the split. Of the 176 people counted with this name, 128 were male (72.7%) and 48 were female (27.3%).
Popularity
Suede: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Suede from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 259 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
Suede 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 Suede during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Suedes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Suede, while Georgia, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Suede
The name Suede does not have a clear linguistic origin or historical background. It is not a traditional given name in any known culture or language. The name seems to be a modern invention, potentially inspired by the soft, napped fabric material known as suede leather.
Suede leather is made from the underside of animal skin, typically lamb or calf. The term "suede" is derived from the French phrase "gants de Suède," which translates to "Swedish gloves." This refers to the fact that the production of this type of soft, velvety leather originated in Sweden.
There are no known historical references or mentions of the name Suede in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records. It is unlikely that the name was used as a given name until relatively recent times, perhaps inspired by the popularity of suede leather in fashion and clothing.
As a given name, Suede appears to be a relatively modern invention, with no recorded examples or notable individuals bearing this name throughout history until the 20th century. Some of the earliest known individuals with the first name Suede include:
1. Suede Brooks (born 1976), an American professional basketball player.
2. Suede Hushka (born 1978), an American artist and musician.
3. Suede Bradshaw (born 1982), an American actor and model.
4. Suede Garza (born 1987), an American professional wrestler.
5. Suede Lancaster (born 1990), an American singer and songwriter.
These individuals were likely given the name Suede in recent decades, possibly as a unique or creative choice inspired by the fabric material. However, the name lacks a deep historical background or cultural significance, as it does not have roots in any traditional naming practices or languages.
People
Suede + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Suede as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Suede: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Suede?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 362 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Suede 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 946,835 US residents.
Is Suede a common name?
We classify Suede as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 365 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Suede most popular?
The single biggest year for Suede was 2024, when 112 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Suede is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Suede in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 177 people with the name Suede, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,393 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 Suede 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 Suede?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Suede on both sides of the split. Of the 176 people counted with this name, 128 were male (72.7%) and 48 were female (27.3%). 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 Suede?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Suede is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Black (15.3%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Suede most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Suede in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.0% (108 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 Suede in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Suede a male name?
Yes, 77.0% of people registered as Suede 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 Suede still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Suede 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 Suede 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 Suede?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.