Anchor

#9,771 in 2025Boys' name

English word name: anchor

Anchor has been given to 149 babies in the U.S. since 2012. In 2025 it ranked #9,771 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2016, with 17 recorded.

Babies named Anchor, 2025

1 in 474,000

Anchor over time, 1880–2025

Boys

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Anchor: meaning, origin, and history

English word name: anchor

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Anchor means

Anchor takes the English word anchor into personal-name use.

The older word means “mooring device”.

Origin, language, and formation

Anchor is used in English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 149 boys were recorded with the name Anchor between 2012 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 17 in 2016; its best national rank was #5,326 in 2016.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,058 in 2020 to #9,771 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,005 in 2015 to #9,771 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Anchor?

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

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 474,000; 7 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 244,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #9,771; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 328,272 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Anchor 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Anchor. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Anchors were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Anchor was born before 2018 — so the typical Anchor is around 7 today.

Median birth year: 2018; About 7 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 63.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 100.0%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 149; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 63.8% of all recorded uses (95).

Is Anchor 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: −1,972; Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago: −2,713; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −3,766; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.50×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 41.2%; Peak was 2016 (17)
Years since peak: 9; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 29.9% average annual change
Best rank ever: #5,326; 2016

Spellings of Anchor

Anchor is not the most common spelling — Archer is, with 90.1% against Anchor's 0.43%.

Archer90.1%31,391
Author6.2%2,173
Arthor1.8%613
Ascher1.5%519
Anchor0.43%149

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.

Anchor by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #9,771
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 2,713
Best rank ever: #5,326; 2016
Peak year: 2016; 17 that year
First recorded: 2012
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 149
Count in 2025: 7

Names similar to Anchor

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

Ancelmo Arthor Ancle Ancel Ance Ancil Ihor Luthor Phor Melchor Ashor Author Othor Aurthor Majhor Christphor Thor Yissochor Mcauthor Nahor Christophor Kristophor Christaphor Christerphor

Sibling names for Anchor

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

For a sister

Karleigh Rhianna Kendyl Hayleigh Jaiden Shaniya Jazmyne Gabriel

For a brother

Kale Hamilton Aaden Caesar Brennen Tobin Jerimiah Jorden

Explore around Anchor

Top names of 2016, Anchor's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 2016 Boys' names starting with A