Goodman

Boys' name

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

Goodman has been given to 22 babies in the U.S. since 1919. 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 1923, with 6 recorded.

Babies named Goodman, 1956

1 in 824,000

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Goodman: meaning, origin, and history

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

surname transfer

What Goodman means

Goodman is a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Goodman is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

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

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Goodman is pronounced /ˈɡʊd.mən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 22 boys were recorded with the name Goodman between 1919 and 1956. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1923; its best national rank was #3,409 in 1935.

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 Goodman?

Goodman had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 1956, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 1956: 1 in 824,000; 5 of 4,122,003 births
Among boys only: 1 in 423,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 1956: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 571,432 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Goodman 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 1956 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 571,432 children born in 1956 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Goodman. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Goodmans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Goodman was born before 1923 — so the typical Goodman is around 102 today.

Median birth year: 1923; About 102 years old
Biggest decade: 1920s; 27.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 50.0%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 5; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1920s — 27.3% of all recorded uses (6).

Is Goodman 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 1923 (6)
Years since peak: 102; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Not enough data; Too few years
Best rank ever: #3,409; 1935

Spellings of Goodman

Goodman is not the most common spelling — Rodman is, with 41.6% against Goodman's 0.69%.

Rodman41.6%1,331
Gordan32.1%1,025
Gorman25.6%818
Goodman0.69%22

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.

Goodman 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: #3,409; 1935
Peak year: 1923; 6 that year
First recorded: 1919
Last recorded: 1956
All-time count: 22
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Goodman

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

Arshman Rhoman Beauman Goodness Soliman Hickman Shurman Jazzman Kohlman Sukhman Guzman Bozeman Sharman Chatman Pittman Beckman Goodluck Eastman Rahaman Draiman Wellman Kaiman Yorman Nauman

Sibling names for Goodman

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

Filomena Novella Aletha Dorcas Vernice Albertha Bethel Rosina

For a brother

Elwin Rubin Bertram Alvis Eldridge Trinidad Hobert Harland

Explore around Goodman

Top names of 1923, Goodman's peak year The 1920s in full Other names that peaked in 1935 Boys' names starting with G