Prince
Prince was the 447th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 703 babies. Its best year was 2019, when it ranked 297th with 1,164 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 61 places. More babies were named Prince in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning prince · English, Latin
Say it PRINS /prɪns/
- Rank in 2025
- #447 boys, down 132 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 703boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20191,164 babies
- Total since 1880
- 24,151babies recorded
What does the name Prince mean?
Prince is the English word for a ruler's son or a sovereign, from Latin princeps, "first, chief". As a surname, Harrison (1918) and Wiktionary explain it as a nickname for someone who behaved like a prince, served in a prince's household, or played one in a pageant. As a first name it has occasional older use and became more common in the US after the musician Prince.
princeps (Latin, “first, chief”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Princeton, Princess.
See also: English names, names that mean king or queen.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Prince', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Henry Harrison, Surnames of the United Kingdom: A Concise Etymological Dictionary, vol. 2 (1918), s.v. 'PRINCE', Morland Press (public domain; Internet Archive scan)
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (cmudict), Carnegie Mellon University
- Dictionary.com Unabridged (based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary), with Collins English Dictionary, s.v. 'prince', Dictionary.com / Random House / HarperCollins
Prince popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 550 since 1903.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #447 | 703 |
| 2020 | #315 | 1,052 |
| 2010 | #515 | 501 |
| 2000 | #891 | 176 |
| 1990 | #918 | 126 |
| 1980 | #768 | 131 |
| 1970 | #1,165 | 51 |
| 1960 | #979 | 61 |
| 1950 | #969 | 52 |
| 1940 | #808 | 60 |
| 1930 | #823 | 63 |
| 1920 | #730 | 80 |
| 1910 | #451 | 38 |
| 1900 | #510 | 22 |
| 1890 | #430 | 18 |
| 1880 | #459 | 16 |
How popular is Prince, counting every spelling?
Prince is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #431 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #447 for Prince on its own. Together these spellings went to 747 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prince | 703 | #447 | 4,324 |
| Prynce | 44 | #2,871 | 239 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Prince?
703 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Prince (0.19 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Prince born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 12 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Prince.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Prince?
About 20,100 people born in the US named Prince are alive today, with a median age of 11; half are between 6 and 23. That makes Prince a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Prince by state
How common Prince was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in District of Columbia (3.0×), Georgia (2.3×), Nevada (2.1×), South Carolina (1.9×), Mississippi (1.9×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Oregon, Nebraska, Kansas.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Prince: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Prince, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Prince · Sibling names for Prince
Questions about the name Prince
What does Prince mean?
Prince means “prince” (English, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Prince?
Prince was the 447th most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 703 babies. Its best year was 2019, when it ranked 297th with 1,164 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 61 places. More babies were named Prince in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Prince a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Prince in the US.
Where is Prince most popular?
In 2021–2025, Prince was most common in District of Columbia (1.49 per 1,000 boys), followed by Georgia and Nevada.