Recorded 1971–2025 · United States
Priest was most popular in 2019, when 50 American babies were given the name — ranking #5,590 that year. In 2025 it ranked #9,082, with 24 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 561 people named Priest.
Priest first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1971, which makes it about 54 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 35 of the 55 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 561 American births named Priest between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 546 are estimated to be alive today.
24 American babies were named Priest in 2025, ranking #9,082 that year.
Priest is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 30 births a year, against 10 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +195% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Priest is a boy’s name — 0.0% of the 561 Americans given it were girls and 100.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 0% girls and 100% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 546 Americans named Priest are alive today — 97% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 10 years old, and half are between 5 and 23.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
See Priest on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org