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Man

UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Diminutive of Selman or Osman

Man has been given to 357 babies in the U.S. since 1884. 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 1982, with 10 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 58% boys, 42% girls all-time.

Babies named Man, 2020

1 in 668,000

Man over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
0510152018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2024, Man went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

18842024

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.

Man: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Selman or Osman

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Man means

Man is a diminutive of Selman or Osman.

Origin, language, and formation

Man is used in Albanian.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Selman and Osman.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 207 boys were recorded with the name Man between 1884 and 2020. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1982; its best national rank was #1,069 in 1884.

In the United States, 150 girls were recorded with the name Man between 1985 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 16 in 2016; its best national rank was #7,477 in 2016.

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 Man?

Man had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2020, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2020
1 in 668,000
5 of 3,342,313 births
Among boys only
1 in 345,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2020
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
463,344 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Man 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 2020 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 463,344 children born in 2020 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Man. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Mans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Man was born before 1939 — so the typical Man is around 86 today.

Median birth year
1939
About 86 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
33.3% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
7.2%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
102
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 33.3% of all recorded uses (69).

Is Man 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 1982 (10)
Years since peak
43
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
23.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,069
1884

Where Man is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Man was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,537,827 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —

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

Where Man is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Man was most concentrated in Oklahoma — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 98,900 across all states with data.

11 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oklahoma1 in 100,000

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

Man around the world

Where Man 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
    1996–2015
    #4,747
    in 2015
  • Scotland
    1979–1992
    #380
    in 1992
  • Canada
    1991–1996
    #1,974
    in 1996
  • South Australia
    2005–2007
    #680
    in 2007

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

Man 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
#1,069
1884
Peak year
1982
10 that year
First recorded
1884
Last recorded
2020
All-time count
207
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#7,477
2016
Peak year
2016
16 that year
First recorded
1985
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
150
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Man

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

MangManaManiMansaManasManuManvirMannMansurEmanManvikManoahRymanManavManojAhmanManceOlmanManoaManrajManasesManveerInmanManan

Sibling names for Man

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 Man

Top names of 1982, Man's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1884Boys' names starting with M