Name Awesome

Bowie

#1,228 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Yellow

Bowie has been given to 3,520 babies in the U.S. since 1920. In 2025 it ranked #1,228 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2021, with 237 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 63% boys, 37% girls all-time.

Babies named Bowie, 2025

1 in 20,200

Bowie over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Bowie over time

In 2025, Bowie went to 42% girls and 58% boys.

19202025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Bowie: meaning, origin, and history

Yellow

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Bowie means

Bowie means “yellow”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,235 boys were recorded with the name Bowie between 1920 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 237 in 2021; its best national rank was #952 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,119 in 2020 to #1,228 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #2,387 in 2015 to #1,228 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,285 girls were recorded with the name Bowie between 2006 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 138 in 2021; its best national rank was #1,527 in 2021.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #1,753 in 2020 to #1,736 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,607 in 2015 to #1,736 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.

How common is Bowie?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 20,200
164 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 10,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,228
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
14,013 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Bowie 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 5002%

Put another way: gather 14,013 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Bowie. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Bowies were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Bowie was born before 2020 — so the typical Bowie is around 5 today.

Median birth year
2020
About 5 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
50.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
96.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,230
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 50.8% of all recorded uses (1,136).

Is Bowie 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
−16
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−109
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,159
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
3.04×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
69.2%
Peak was 2021 (237)
Years since peak
4
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
38.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#952
2021

Spellings of Bowie

Bowie is not the most common spelling — Louie is, with 20.7% against Bowie's 1.5%.

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 Bowie is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Bowie was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 4,000 boys, against 1 in 10,335 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

125 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 4,000
  2. 2Oregon1 in 4,348
  3. 3Washington1 in 4,545
  4. 4California1 in 5,882
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 7,143
  6. 6Arizona1 in 8,333
  7. 7Colorado1 in 8,333
  8. 8Idaho1 in 8,333

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.

Where Bowie is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Bowie was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 2,941 girls, against 1 in 14,546 across all states with data. It was least common in Illinois (1 in 100,000).

134 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 2,941
  2. 2California1 in 7,143
  3. 3Oregon1 in 11,111
  4. 4Arizona1 in 12,500
  5. 5Washington1 in 12,500
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in 16,667
  7. 7New York1 in 20,000
  8. 8Ohio1 in 25,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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.

Bowie around the world

Where Bowie 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.

  • England & Wales
    2004–2025
    #379
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2018–2025
    #367
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2016–2025
    #395
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2011–2025
    #509
    in 2025
  • France
    2022–2022
    #4,592
    in 2022
  • Canada
    2015–2024
    #916
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2008–2013
    #499
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Bowie

People whose public names include Bowie, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Bowie in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Bowie. Linked forms have their own page here.

BowZowieBoie

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Bowie by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,228
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 109
Best rank ever
#952
2021
Peak year
2021
237 that year
First recorded
1920
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,235
Count in 2025
164

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,736
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 17
Best rank ever
#1,527
2021
Peak year
2021
138 that year
First recorded
2006
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,285
Count in 2025
117

Names similar to Bowie

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

BowmanBowenBowdenHowieBowynBowdyBowanBoweLewieBowBowinDewieBowdieBowdeeBowdrieBowdynBowerYngwie

Names with a curve like Bowie

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Bowie, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

JaxtynGrangerArhamNiklausKaiusMatheoLenoxKaisenAtharvBeauxZakariBastian

Sibling names for Bowie

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 Bowie

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