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Ames

#1,754 in 2025Boys' name

Beloved, through Amy

Ames has been given to 1,865 babies in the U.S. since 1913. In 2025 it ranked #1,754 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 93 recorded.

Babies named Ames, 2025

1 in 36,000

Ames over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ames: meaning, origin, and history

Beloved, through Amy

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ames means

Ames belongs to the name family reached through Ames → Amy. Its meaning is “beloved”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From the clipping of Amy + -s (hypocoristic suffix).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Ames (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Ames is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Amy.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Ames is pronounced /eɪmz/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,855 boys were recorded with the name Ames between 1913 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 93 in 2023; its best national rank was #1,695 in 2020.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,695 in 2020 to #1,754 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,458 in 2015 to #1,754 in 2025.

In the United States, 10 girls were recorded with the name Ames between 2016 and 2022. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2016; its best national rank was #15,461 in 2022.

How common is Ames?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 36,000
92 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 18,600
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,754
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
24,978 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ames sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 24,978 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ames. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Amess were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ames was born before 2013 — so the typical Ames is around 12 today.

Median birth year
2013
About 12 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
28.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
58.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,587
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 28.4% of all recorded uses (526).

Is Ames rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+259
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−59
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+704
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.80×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
98.9%
Peak was 2023 (93)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
38.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,695
2020

Spellings of Ames

Ames is not the most common spelling — James is, with 86.6% against Ames's 0.03%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Ames is used

Across 2016–2025, Ames was most concentrated in Minnesota — about 1 in 6,667 boys, against 1 in 32,777 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in 100,000).

115 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Minnesota1 in 6,667
  2. 2Utah1 in 20,000
  3. 3California1 in 25,000
  4. 4Colorado1 in 25,000
  5. 5Iowa1 in 25,000
  6. 6Wisconsin1 in 25,000
  7. 7Illinois1 in 33,333
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 33,333

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Ames around the world

Where Ames ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • Canada
    2020–2021
    #2,619
    in 2021

Popularity data from Statistics Canada. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Ames by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,754
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 59
Best rank ever
#1,695
2020
Peak year
2023
93 that year
First recorded
1913
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,855
Count in 2025
92

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#15,461
2022
Peak year
2016
5 that year
First recorded
2016
Last recorded
2022
All-time count
10
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Ames

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AmerAmenAmeenAmelAmereAmeirAmeerAmelioAmericoAmeyaJaymesAmeliaHermesAmellAmedeoAmedAmeriEamesAmerisAmeyAmeryHolmesAmerigoAmear

Sibling names for Ames

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Ames

Top names of 2023, Ames's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2020Boys' names starting with A