How Many People Are Named Unknown?
An estimated 14,649 people in the United States have the first name Unknown. It is used for both genders, with 50.1% male. The average bearer is 53 years old, and Unknown peaked in popularity in 1954 with 1,193 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Unknown 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 Unknown paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Unknown is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
Estimated Living Americans
14,649
About 1 in 23,398 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
50.1% confidence
Average Age
53
years old
Peak Year
1954
1,193 births
Total Registered
19,602
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Unknown
Unknown is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (50.1%) and females (49.9%). Out of 19,602 total births registered, 9,827 were male and 9,775 were female.
Unknown as a male name
Ranked #3,199 in 2024
38 male births in 2024
Peak: 1954 (549 births)
Unknown as a female name
Ranked #4,021 in 2024
37 female births in 2024
Peak: 1954 (644 births)
Unknown: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Unknown span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 8,929 babies were registered. Unknown has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Unknown by Decade
How has Unknown 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.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 64 | 51 | 13 | |
| 1890s | 142 | 97 | 45 | |
| 1900s | 166 | 98 | 68 | |
| 1910s | 334 | 211 | 123 | |
| 1920s | 245 | 149 | 96 | |
| 1930s | 174 | 64 | 110 | |
| 1940s | 1,935 | 711 | 1,224 | |
| 1950s | 8,929 | 4,206 | 4,723 | |
| 1960s | 1,269 | 762 | 507 | |
| 1970s | 346 | 196 | 150 | |
| 1980s | 841 | 443 | 398 | |
| 1990s | 2,442 | 1,296 | 1,146 | |
| 2000s | 768 | 412 | 356 | |
| 2010s | 1,381 | 789 | 592 | |
| 2020s | 566 | 342 | 224 | |
Unknown by State
Birth registrations for Unknown span all 36 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Georgia, Alabama, Oregon. The lowest are in Idaho, Utah, New Mexico. On average, about 415 Unknowns were registered per state.
Unknown + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Unknown as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Unknown
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
Unknown: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Unknown?
We estimate approximately 14,649 people named Unknown 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 23,398 Americans share this first name.
Is Unknown a common name?
Unknown is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.2% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 19,602 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Unknown most popular?
Unknown reached peak popularity in 1954, when 1,193 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Unknown is approximately 53 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Unknown a male name?
Unknown is predominantly male. 50.1% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Unknown Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Unknown Smith, Unknown Johnson, Unknown 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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