Vance
A name derived from French origins, meaning "to advance" or "dweller by a fen".
Name Census estimates that about 19,519 living Americans carry the first name Vance. It is a predominantly male name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Vance today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vance births was 1969 (555 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vance. 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 Vance with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Vance is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 138 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
20K
~ 1 in 17,560 Americans
Peak year
1969
555 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
2024 SSA rank
#996
Tracked since 1880
Census
Vance in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 17,229 people with the first name Vance, which placed it at #1,752 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
#1,752
National first-name rank
People counted
17K
17,229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vance
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vance is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Vance 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 Vance at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.4% · 12,651
- Black or African American13.2% · 2,278
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 832
- Two or more races4.6% · 785
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 458
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 225
Gender
Gender distribution for Vance
Out of the 26,949 babies given the name Vance since 1880, 99.5% 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.
Vance as a male name
- Ranked #996 in 2024
- 226 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1969 (555 births)
Vance as a female name
- Ranked #11,744 in 1988
- 6 female births in 1988
- Peak: 1915 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vance appears almost entirely male. Of the 17,227 people counted with this name, 99.4% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Vance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vance from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 4,080 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vance 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 Vance during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vances live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Vance, while Wyoming, Connecticut, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 446 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vance
The name Vance has its origins in the French language, derived from the Old French word "avance," meaning "to advance" or "to go forward." Its earliest recorded use dates back to the 12th century in France.
The name Vance is believed to have been initially used as a surname, referring to someone who had moved forward or advanced in some way, either literally or figuratively. It later transitioned into a given name, although its usage as a first name was relatively uncommon until more recent centuries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Vance was Vance of Tyre, a 12th-century French knight and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade. While not much is known about his life, his name is mentioned in various chronicles and records from that time period.
In the 16th century, Vance Ferreris, an Italian philosopher and theologian, was born in 1528 in Savona, Italy. He is known for his works on natural philosophy and his contributions to the development of early modern science.
During the 17th century, Vance Underwood, an English writer and poet, gained recognition for his literary works. He was born in 1640 in Stratford-upon-Avon and is often cited as an influential figure in the development of English literature during that era.
In the 19th century, Vance Woodruff, an American politician and lawyer, played a significant role in the early history of the state of Ohio. Born in 1794, he served as a member of the Ohio House of Representatives and was involved in the drafting of the state's constitution.
Another notable figure with the name Vance was Vance Packard, an American social critic and author born in 1914. He is best known for his influential books, such as "The Hidden Persuaders" and "The Status Seekers," which explored the impact of advertising and consumerism on American society.
While the name Vance has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, it has never been among the most popular given names. However, its unique meaning and distinctive sound have contributed to its enduring use across various cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Vance
People
Vance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vance as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19,519 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vance 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 17,560 US residents.
Is Vance a common name?
We classify Vance as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26,949 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vance most popular?
The single biggest year for Vance was 1969, when 555 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vance is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vance in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 17,229 people with the name Vance, or 5.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,752 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 Vance 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 Vance?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vance appears almost entirely male. Of the 17,227 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Vance?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vance is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Black (13.2%) and Hispanic (4.8%). 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 Vance most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vance in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.4% (12,651 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 Vance in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vance a male name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Vance 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 Vance still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vance 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 Vance 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 have the name Vance?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Vance, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.