girls' name ★ peaked 1918

Florence

Meaning flowering, flourishing Gender Girl Rank 2025 #391 Trend ↑ Rising 137%

Borrowed from French Florence f, from Latin Flōrentia (as a given name, a feminine form of Flōrentius), from flōrens (“flowering, flourishing”), from flōs (“flower”)…

Rank 2025
#391
among girls · ↑40 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
796
named Florence · +10% vs 2024
How common
1 in 2,019
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1918
11,350 babies
All-time total
340,547
#110 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Florence popularity over time

340,547 babies have been named Florence since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
510152018801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 16,699 116 16,815 1,682 – #7
1890s 32,345 159 32,504 3,250 +93% #6
1900s 36,191 177 36,368 3,637 +12% #7
1910s 81,465 294 81,759 8,176 +125% #12
1920s 88,295 333 88,628 8,863 +8% #16
1930s 37,942 220 38,162 3,816 -57% #38
1940s 20,393 87 20,480 2,048 -46% #100
1950s 10,597 21 10,618 1,062 -48% #190
1960s 5,081 34 5,115 512 -52% #356
1970s 2,227 – 2,227 223 -56% #558
1980s 1,272 – 1,272 127 -43% #959
1990s 828 – 828 83 -35% #1,448
2000s 600 – 600 60 -28% #2,388
2010s 1,828 – 1,828 183 +205% #937
2020s (to 2025) 3,330 13 3,343 557 +205% #391

Where Florence is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 921 0.57 #335
2027 1,042 0.65 #294
2028 1,158 0.72 #269
2029 1,266 0.79 #246
2030 1,367 0.85 #223

Where Florence is most popular

Girls named Florence per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.366 per 1,000. Strongest in Oregon, District of Columbia, and Utah.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Florence born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Oregon 82 1.26 +244%
District of Columbia 14 1.18 +222%
Utah 85 1.02 +179%
Minnesota 102 0.945 +158%
Colorado 98 0.878 +140%
Washington 116 0.803 +119%
Kansas 41 0.711 +94%
Idaho 22 0.657 +79%
Wisconsin 65 0.631 +72%
Missouri 74 0.614 +68%
Indiana 85 0.605 +65%
Massachusetts 72 0.595 +63%
Tennessee 86 0.543 +48%
Iowa 28 0.479 +31%
Virginia 79 0.463 +26%
Pennsylvania 107 0.453 +23%
Alabama 42 0.447 +22%
Michigan 78 0.428 +17%
Ohio 100 0.421 +15%
New York 165 0.417 +14%
North Carolina 93 0.408 +11%
Illinois 92 0.402 +10%
California 334 0.397 +8%
Maryland 42 0.396 +8%
Montana 5 0.369 ≈ national
Oklahoma 26 0.353 ≈ national
Louisiana 30 0.343 -6%
Georgia 76 0.335 -9%
Nebraska 12 0.334 -9%
New Jersey 60 0.332 -9%
New Hampshire 6 0.325 -11%
Maine 5 0.323 -12%
Arizona 44 0.314 -14%
South Carolina 26 0.289 -21%
Texas 219 0.272 -26%
Mississippi 11 0.235 -36%
Kentucky 20 0.234 -36%
Florida 100 0.234 -36%
Arkansas 12 0.227 -38%
Nevada 7 0.151 -59%
Connecticut 8 0.138 -62%
Alaska – – –
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
North Dakota – – –
New Mexico – – –
Rhode Island – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Florence

Florence is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #391 in 2025 with 796 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 340,547 American babies have been named Florence. Its peak came in 1918, when 11,350 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1910s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Florence stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Florence?

The median living Florence is about 76 years old; half are between 61 and 86. An estimated 49 thousand people named Florence are alive in the United States today.

median 76 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Florence year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 796 #391 – –
2024 718 #431 6 #11,370
2023 583 #522 – –
2022 475 #623 7 #10,149
2021 401 #715 – –
2020 357 #763 – –
2019 282 #937 – –
2018 273 #968 – –
2017 267 #979 – –
2016 247 #1,056 – –
2015 214 #1,178 – –
2014 183 #1,302 – –
2013 118 #1,745 – –
2012 94 #2,051 – –
2011 74 #2,461 – –
2010 76 #2,461 – –
2009 54 #3,135 – –
2008 62 #2,864 – –
2007 61 #2,942 – –
2006 64 #2,766 – –
2005 55 #2,944 – –
2004 64 #2,605 – –
2003 50 #3,014 – –
2002 64 #2,476 – –
2001 66 #2,388 – –
2000 60 #2,520 – –
1995 75 #1,867 – –
1990 108 #1,448 – –
1985 127 #1,134 – –
1980 152 #978 – –
1975 204 #723 – –
1970 331 #558 – –
1965 450 #451 – –
1960 738 #356 7 #3,452
1955 1,005 #269 – –
1950 1,445 #190 – –
1945 1,731 #140 – –
1940 2,467 #100 17 #1,704
1935 3,273 #74 28 #1,277
1930 5,867 #38 38 #1,140
1925 8,585 #24 45 #1,028
1920 10,731 #16 32 #1,285
1915 10,105 #14 37 #1,056
1910 4,282 #12 23 #606
1905 3,478 #11 18 #556
1900 3,920 #7 22 #495
1895 3,471 #7 19 #461
1890 2,744 #6 14 #518
1885 1,667 #12 12 #558
1880 1,063 #14 8 #705

Famous people named Florence

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Florence Pugh Florence Pugh English actress (born 1996) Contemporary
  2. 2 Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale English founder of modern nursing (1820–1910) 19th century
  3. 3 Florence Griffith Joyner Florence Griffith Joyner American track and field hurdle athlete (1959–1998) Contemporary
  4. 4 Florence Henderson Florence Henderson American actress (1934–2016) Contemporary
  5. 5 Florence Foster Jenkins Florence Foster Jenkins American soprano (1868–1944) 19th century
  6. 6 Florence Owens Thompson Florence Owens Thompson American farm worker, subject of Dorothea Lange's photo 'Migrant Mother' (1903–1983) Contemporary
  7. 7 Florence Lawrence Florence Lawrence Canadian-American actress (1886–1938) 19th century
  8. 8 Florence Kasumba Florence Kasumba German actress (born 1976) Contemporary
  9. 9 Florence Harding Florence Harding First Lady of the United States from 1921 to 1923 1860–1924 · 19th century
  10. 10 Florence Green Florence Green Last surviving veteran of World War I (1901–2012) Contemporary
  11. 11 Florence Arthaud Florence Arthaud French sailor (1957–2015) Contemporary
  12. 12 Florence Vidor Florence Vidor American actress (1895–1977) 19th century
  13. 13 Florence Parly Florence Parly French politician (born 1963) Contemporary
  14. 14 Florence R. Sabin Florence R. Sabin American medical scientist (1871–1953) 19th century
  15. 15 Florence Bascom Florence Bascom American professor of geology (1862–1945) 19th century
  16. 16 Florence Delay Florence Delay French writer and actress (1941–2025) Contemporary
  17. 17 Florence Devouard Florence Devouard French agronomist and former Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation (born 1968) Contemporary
  18. 18 Florence Lee Florence Lee American actress 1888–1962 · 19th century
  19. 19 Florence Baverel-Robert French biathlete (born 1974) Contemporary
  20. 20 Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey Florence Augusta Merriam Bailey American ornithologist (1863–1948) 19th century

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Florence, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Florence?

The median living Florence is about 76 years old. Half of all living Florences are between 61 and 86 years old.

How many people named Florence are alive today?

An estimated 49 thousand people named Florence are alive in the United States, based on 340,547 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Florence mean?

Borrowed from French Florence f, from Latin Flōrentia (as a given name, a feminine form of Flōrentius), from flōrens (“flowering, flourishing”), from flōs (“flower”), connected with English bloom and blossom.

How popular is the name Florence in 2025?

Florence ranked #391 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 796 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Florence?

340,547 babies have been named Florence in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Florence most popular?

Florence peaked in 1918, when 11,350 newborns received the name.

Is Florence a boy or girl name?

Florence is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Florence rising or falling?

Florence is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Florence become more popular?

Florence is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 1,367 girls named Florence in 2030, which would rank around #223. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Florence?

Well-known people named Florence include Florence Pugh (actor), Florence Nightingale (physician), Florence Griffith Joyner (athlete).

Names like Florence

Names that sound and feel close to Florence: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Florence with similar names → More names starting with F →