Promise
Promise was the 826th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 330 babies. Its best year was 2023, when it ranked 714th with 395 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 245 places. More babies were named Promise in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning promise (English word) · English, Latin
Say it PRAH-mis /ˈprɑmɪs/
- Rank in 2025
- #826 girls, up 27 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 330girls
- Girls and boys
- 94% girls, 6% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2023395 babies
- Total since 1880
- 6,838babies recorded
What does the name Promise mean?
Promise is an English virtue-style word name, which Wiktionary records as a girls' name. The American Heritage Dictionary traces promise through Old French promesse to Medieval Latin promissa, from Latin promittere, to send forth or to promise. The Latin verb combines pro-, forth, and mittere, to send, as the American Heritage Dictionary explains. As a name it suggests hope and commitment. US records show Promise from 1975.
prōmittere (Latin, “to send forth; to promise”)
How sure is this? Well established.
See also: English names, virtue names.
Sources for this meaning
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'promise' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Wiktionary, entry 'Promise' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Promise popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #826 | #5,343 | 330 | 18 |
| 2020 | #853 | #4,114 | 319 | 25 |
| 2010 | #1,132 | #5,193 | 217 | 18 |
| 2000 | #2,168 | #10,015 | 74 | 6 |
| 1990 | #7,183 | — | 12 | — |
| 1980 | #6,206 | — | 11 | — |
| 1970 | — | — | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Promise, counting every spelling?
Promise is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #743 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #826 for Promise on its own. Together these spellings went to 374 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Promise | 330 | #826 | 1,817 |
| Promyse | 44 | #3,507 | 250 |
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 Promise?
330 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Promise (0.09 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Promise 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 25 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Promise.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Promise?
About 6,400 people born in the US named Promise are alive today, with a median age of 10; half are between 5 and 18. That makes Promise 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.
Promise by state
How common Promise was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Mississippi (4.1×), South Carolina (3.9×), Georgia (3.9×), Louisiana (2.5×), Alabama (2.1×). In 22 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Promise: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Promise, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Promise · Sibling names for Promise
Questions about the name Promise
What does Promise mean?
Promise means “promise (English word)” (English, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Promise?
Promise was the 826th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 330 babies. Its best year was 2023, when it ranked 714th with 395 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 245 places. More babies were named Promise in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Promise a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 94% girls, 6% boys given the name Promise in the US.
Where is Promise most popular?
In 2021–2025, Promise was most common in Mississippi (0.92 per 1,000 girls), followed by South Carolina and Georgia.