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Boyce

#9,034 in 2025Boys' name

Wood

Boyce has been given to 5,576 babies in the U.S. since 1885. In 2025 it ranked #9,034 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1934, with 121 recorded.

Babies named Boyce, 2025

1 in 414,000

Boyce over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Boyce: meaning, origin, and history

Wood

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Boyce means

Boyce means “wood”, associated with bois.

Origin, language, and formation

Boyce is used in English.

Boyce comes through Old French bois.

Boyce is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Boyce is pronounced /bɔɪs/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,518 boys were recorded with the name Boyce between 1885 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 121 in 1934; its best national rank was #529 in 1938.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,587 in 2020 to #9,034 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #7,556 in 2015 to #9,034 in 2025.

In the United States, 58 girls were recorded with the name Boyce between 1919 and 1954. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1927; its best national rank was #4,249 in 1928.

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 Boyce?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 414,000
8 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 213,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#9,034
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
287,238 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Boyce 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 287,238 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Boyce. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Boyces were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Boyce was born before 1941 — so the typical Boyce is around 84 today.

Median birth year
1941
About 84 years old
Biggest decade
1930s
18.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
4.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
2,019
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1930s — 18.7% of all recorded uses (1,034).

Is Boyce 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
−1,711
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−1,447
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,478
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.80×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
6.6%
Peak was 1934 (121)
Years since peak
91
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
34.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#529
1938

Spellings of Boyce

Boyce is not the most common spelling — Bruce is, with 53.4% against Boyce's 0.76%.

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 Boyce is used

Across 1910–2025, Boyce was most concentrated in South Carolina — about 1 in 4,000 boys, against 1 in 29,584 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

025 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1South Carolina1 in 4,000
  2. 2Arkansas1 in 5,000
  3. 3North Carolina1 in 5,556
  4. 4Kentucky1 in 16,667
  5. 5Mississippi1 in 16,667
  6. 6Texas1 in 33,333
  7. 7Georgia1 in 50,000
  8. 8Oklahoma1 in 50,000

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. Boyce has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Boyce around the world

Where Boyce 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
    2012–2023
    #4,992
    in 2023
  • Canada
    2017–2017
    #2,944
    in 2017
  • South Australia
    1954–2005
    #643
    in 2005

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Boyce

People whose public names include Boyce, 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.

Boyce by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,034
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,447
Best rank ever
#529
1938
Peak year
1934
121 that year
First recorded
1885
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,518
Count in 2025
8

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,249
1928
Peak year
1927
6 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
1954
All-time count
58
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Boyce

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

KayceJoyceBoydRaycePryceTyceChayceRoyceJayceCayceAyceBoyanTrayceDoyceBryceLoyceKyceJustyceTreyceDrayceCloyceChoyceBoydeTroyce

Names with a curve like Boyce

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

SherwoodMaxieHaywardAlvisRayfordRollinMeltonTalmadgeWaymonReynoldWinfordTheadore

Sibling names for Boyce

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 Boyce

Top names of 1934, Boyce's peak yearThe 1930s in fullOther names that peaked in 1938Boys' names starting with B