How Many People Are Named Buddy?
An estimated 12,481 people in the United States have the first name Buddy. It is almost exclusively a male name. The average bearer is 62 years old, and Buddy peaked in popularity in 1935 with 604 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Buddy as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Buddy paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
12,481
About 1 in 27,462 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
99.8% confidence
Average Age
62
years old
Peak Year
1935
604 births
Total Registered
22,561
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Buddy
Buddy is almost exclusively a male name. Out of 22,561 total births registered, 99.8% were male.
Buddy as a male name
Ranked #3,795 in 2024
29 male births in 2024
Peak: 1935 (604 births)
Buddy as a female name
Ranked #9,231 in 1980
6 female births in 1980
Peak: 1938 (7 births)
Buddy: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Buddy span from the 1890s to the 2020s, covering 14 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1930s, when 5,115 babies were registered. Buddy has declined significantly from its peak in the 1930s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Buddy by Decade
How has Buddy tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Buddy by State
Birth registrations for Buddy span all 37 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, Oklahoma. The lowest are in Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin. On average, about 485 Buddys were registered per state.
Buddy + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Buddy as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Buddy
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Buddy: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Buddy?
We estimate approximately 12,481 people named Buddy are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 27,462 Americans share this first name.
Is Buddy a common name?
Buddy is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 22,561 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Buddy most popular?
Buddy reached peak popularity in 1935, when 604 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Buddy is approximately 62 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Buddy a male name?
Buddy is predominantly male. 99.8% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Buddy Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Buddy Smith, Buddy Johnson, Buddy Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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