Anker

Boys' name

Meaning and deeper origin uncertain

Anker has been given to 41 babies in the U.S. since 1917. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 2019, with 8 recorded.

Babies named Anker, 2024

1 in 669,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Anker: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and deeper origin uncertain

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Anker means

Anker is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Anker is used in Danish.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 41 boys were recorded with the name Anker between 1917 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 8 in 2019; its best national rank was #3,563 in 1917.

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 Anker?

Anker had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2024, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2024: 1 in 669,000; 5 of 3,342,801 births
Among boys only: 1 in 345,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2024: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 463,412 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Anker 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 2024 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 463,412 children born in 2024 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Anker. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ankers were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Anker was born before 2016 — so the typical Anker is around 9 today.

Median birth year: 2016; About 9 years old
Biggest decade: 2010s; 61.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 85.4%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 35; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2010s — 61.0% of all recorded uses (25).

Is Anker 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: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 2019 (8)
Years since peak: 6; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Very steady; 0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,563; 1917

Spellings of Anker

Anker is not the most common spelling — Angel is, with 31.1% against Anker's <0.01%.

Angel31.1%265,886
Parker15.3%130,941
Asher13.0%111,227
Tanner11.4%97,625
Walker5.6%47,914
Ryker4.8%41,204
Xander4.7%40,281
Zander3.4%28,750

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.

Anker by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #3,563; 1917
Peak year: 2019; 8 that year
First recorded: 1917
Last recorded: 2024
All-time count: 41
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Anker

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

Eiker Bayker Aiker Deker Ankith Rocker Laker Ecker Bryker Rykker Striker Ankush Packer Shaker Edker Rucker Aker Barker Eker Hasker Icker Harker Coker Tukker

Sibling names for Anker

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

Keren Leena Nala Kairi Emani Kamilah Elliot Royalty

For a brother

Joziah Ishaan Khalid Torin Kamryn Leighton Simeon Turner

Explore around Anker

Top names of 2019, Anker's peak year The 2010s in full Other names that peaked in 1917 Boys' names starting with A Uncommon Danish Boy Names