boys' name ★ peaked 1962

Jeffrey

Meaning A male given name from the Germanic languages, the usual U Gender Boy Rank 2025 #552 Trend ↓ Falling 32%

A male given name from the Germanic languages, the usual U.S.

Rank 2025
#552
among boys · ↓32 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
544
named Jeffrey · -7% vs 2024
How common
1 in 3,140
boys born in 2025
Peak year
1962
33,615 babies
All-time total
983,099
#30 all-time among boys
First recorded
1885
in Social Security records

Jeffrey popularity over time

983,099 babies have been named Jeffrey since 1885, 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
510152018801900192019401960198020002020BoysGirls
BoysGirls

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 – 5 5 1 – #1,018
1890s – – – – – –
1900s – – – – – –
1910s – 147 147 15 – #1,370
1920s – 263 263 26 +79% #1,200
1930s – 903 903 90 +243% #284
1940s 123 34,340 34,463 3,446 +3717% #48
1950s 372 184,668 185,040 18,504 +437% #16
1960s 925 302,029 302,954 30,295 +64% #9
1970s 968 202,850 203,818 20,382 -33% #11
1980s 884 144,789 145,673 14,567 -29% #27
1990s 183 66,987 67,170 6,717 -54% #43
2000s 38 25,918 25,956 2,596 -61% #104
2010s 5 12,746 12,751 1,275 -51% #221
2020s (to 2025) – 3,956 3,956 659 -48% #386

Where Jeffrey is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 boys (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 boys Implied rank
2026 509 0.30 outside top 500
2027 481 0.28 outside top 500
2028 459 0.27 outside top 500
2029 441 0.26 outside top 500
2030 426 0.25 outside top 500

Where Jeffrey is most popular

Boys named Jeffrey per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.366 per 1,000. Strongest in Rhode Island, Delaware, and Maryland.

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

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are boys named Jeffrey 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 Boys 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
Rhode Island 15 0.920 +151%
Delaware 11 0.725 +98%
Maryland 83 0.696 +90%
South Carolina 68 0.658 +80%
New Jersey 123 0.611 +67%
Kentucky 61 0.608 +66%
Alabama 65 0.595 +62%
Ohio 151 0.570 +56%
Pennsylvania 146 0.550 +50%
Missouri 73 0.527 +44%
Connecticut 35 0.517 +41%
Maine 10 0.515 +41%
Massachusetts 70 0.509 +39%
Virginia 95 0.501 +37%
Michigan 102 0.498 +36%
Wisconsin 59 0.498 +36%
New York 212 0.490 +34%
Georgia 122 0.482 +32%
Tennessee 84 0.465 +27%
North Carolina 112 0.439 +20%
Florida 201 0.425 +16%
Iowa 29 0.421 +15%
Alaska 5 0.420 +15%
Indiana 62 0.387 +6%
Washington 61 0.373 ≈ national
Illinois 91 0.356 ≈ national
North Dakota 6 0.351 ≈ national
Louisiana 33 0.323 -12%
Colorado 40 0.310 -15%
California 283 0.310 -15%
Kansas 21 0.306 -16%
Texas 259 0.294 -20%
Utah 27 0.283 -23%
New Hampshire 6 0.270 -26%
Arizona 43 0.263 -28%
West Virginia 8 0.245 -33%
Minnesota 30 0.245 -33%
Nevada 10 0.175 -52%
Arkansas 11 0.174 -53%
Idaho 7 0.171 -53%
Mississippi 9 0.158 -57%
Oregon 11 0.145 -60%
Nebraska 5 0.115 -69%
Oklahoma 8 0.090 -75%
District of Columbia – – –
Hawaii – – –
Montana – – –
New Mexico – – –
South Dakota – – –
Vermont – – –
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 Jeffrey

Jeffrey is uncommon for boys in the United States, ranked #552 in 2025 with 544 babies given the name. It is currently declining compared with a decade ago.

Since 1885, 983,099 American babies have been named Jeffrey. Its peak came in 1962, when 33,615 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1960s.

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 Jeffrey stood among all boys' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Jeffrey?

The median living Jeffrey is about 55 years old; half are between 43 and 63. An estimated 844 thousand people named Jeffrey are alive in the United States today.

median 55 020406080100

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

Jeffrey 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 – – 544 #552
2024 – – 588 #520
2023 – – 622 #485
2022 – – 681 #452
2021 – – 727 #427
2020 – – 794 #386
2019 – – 881 #364
2018 – – 1,016 #329
2017 – – 1,056 #324
2016 – – 1,173 #301
2015 – – 1,261 #290
2014 – – 1,380 #266
2013 – – 1,406 #256
2012 5 #18,032 1,508 #240
2011 – – 1,440 #246
2010 – – 1,625 #221
2009 – – 1,719 #216
2008 – – 1,998 #198
2007 – – 2,131 #191
2006 – – 2,267 #180
2005 – – 2,425 #171
2004 12 #8,937 2,723 #149
2003 5 #16,862 2,885 #140
2002 8 #11,561 3,000 #132
2001 6 #14,289 3,207 #119
2000 7 #12,353 3,563 #104
1995 12 #7,242 5,731 #64
1990 40 #2,867 10,980 #43
1985 104 #1,293 14,500 #29
1980 94 #1,345 16,379 #27
1975 81 #1,336 18,316 #14
1970 141 #917 30,139 #11
1965 69 #1,312 29,574 #10
1960 84 #1,191 28,841 #14
1955 36 #1,751 22,533 #20
1950 22 #2,079 7,644 #43
1945 14 #2,388 2,782 #91
1940 – – 799 #183
1935 – – 43 #975
1930 – – 34 #1,225
1925 – – 26 #1,476
1920 – – 22 #1,666
1915 – – 21 #1,533
1910 – – 7 #1,370
1905 – – – –
1900 – – – –
1895 – – – –
1890 – – – –
1885 – – 5 #1,018
1880 – – – –

Famous people named Jeffrey

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

  1. 1 Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Epstein American financier and child sex offender (1953–2019) Contemporary
  2. 2 Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Dahmer American serial killer (1960–1994) Contemporary
  3. 3 Jeffrey Dean Morgan Jeffrey Dean Morgan American actor (born 1966) Contemporary
  4. 4 Jeffrey Wright Jeffrey Wright American actor (born 1965) Contemporary
  5. 5 Jeffrey Jones Jeffrey Jones American actor (born 1946) Contemporary
  6. 6 Jeffrey Sachs Jeffrey Sachs American economist (born 1954) Contemporary
  7. 7 Jeffrey Tambor Jeffrey Tambor American actor (born 1944) Contemporary
  8. 8 Jeffrey Donovan Jeffrey Donovan American actor (born 1968) Contemporary
  9. 9 Jeffrey Hunter Jeffrey Hunter American actor (1926–1969) Contemporary
  10. 10 Jeffrey Archer Jeffrey Archer English author and politician (born 1940) Contemporary
  11. 11 Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg American film producer and media proprietor (born 1950) Contemporary
  12. 12 Jeffrey Combs Jeffrey Combs American actor (born 1954) Contemporary
  13. 13 Jeffrey DeMunn Jeffrey DeMunn American actor (born 1947) Contemporary
  14. 14 Jeffrey Nordling American actor b. 1962 · Contemporary
  15. 15 Jeffrey Eugenides Jeffrey Eugenides American novelist and short story writer (born 1960) Contemporary
  16. 16 Jeffrey Dunn Jeffrey Dunn British guitarist b. 1961 · Contemporary
  17. 17 Jeffrey Lieber Jeffrey Lieber American screenwriter b. 1969 · Contemporary
  18. 18 Jeffrey Buttle Jeffrey Buttle Canadian figure skater and choreographer (born 1982) Contemporary
  19. 19 Jeffrey Bruma Jeffrey Bruma Dutch footballer (born 1991) Contemporary
  20. 20 Jeffrey Ullman American computer scientist b. 1942 · Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

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

How old is the average Jeffrey?

The median living Jeffrey is about 55 years old. Half of all living Jeffreys are between 43 and 63 years old.

How many people named Jeffrey are alive today?

An estimated 844 thousand people named Jeffrey are alive in the United States, based on 983,099 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Jeffrey mean?

A male given name from the Germanic languages, the usual U.S.

How popular is the name Jeffrey in 2025?

Jeffrey ranked #552 among boys' names in the United States in 2025, with 544 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Jeffrey?

983,099 babies have been named Jeffrey in the United States since 1885, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Jeffrey most popular?

Jeffrey peaked in 1962, when 33,615 newborns received the name.

Is Jeffrey a boy or girl name?

Jeffrey is overwhelmingly a boy's name: 100% of babies with the name.

Is the name Jeffrey rising or falling?

Jeffrey is declining, less popular now than a decade ago.

Will Jeffrey become more popular?

Jeffrey is trending downward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 426 boys named Jeffrey in 2030, which would rank outside the top 500. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Jeffrey?

Well-known people named Jeffrey include Jeffrey Epstein (mafioso), Jeffrey Dahmer (extremist), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (actor).

Names like Jeffrey

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

Compare Jeffrey with similar names → More names starting with J →