Name Awesome

Pepper

#1,907 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Pepper has been given to 3,551 babies in the U.S. since 1947. In 2025 it ranked #1,907 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2014, with 161 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 93% girls, 7% boys all-time.

Babies named Pepper, 2025

1 in 32,500

Pepper over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
05010015020018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Pepper went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19372025

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.

Pepper: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Pepper means

Pepper is a given name.

The naming story behind Pepper

Wikidata records Pepper as a given name. The entity identifier is Q117421225, and the classification was checked on 2026-10-20. The spelling matches a source label or alias exactly, without removing accents or linking it to a name merely because the letters look similar.

A database classification is different from an etymological explanation, so those questions remain open in the short meaning.

A modern root explanation needs an additional naming or linguistic reference.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,306 girls were recorded with the name Pepper between 1947 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 161 in 2014; its best national rank was #956 in 1975.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,589 in 2020 to #1,907 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,503 in 2015 to #1,907 in 2025.

In the United States, 245 boys were recorded with the name Pepper between 1937 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 13 in 1957; its best national rank was #2,349 in 1957.

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 Pepper?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 32,500
102 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 15,800
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,907
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
22,530 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Pepper sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

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 22,530 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Pepper. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Peppers were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Pepper was born before 2013 — so the typical Pepper is around 12 today.

Median birth year
2013
About 12 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
40.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
70.8%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,301
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 40.9% of all recorded uses (1,353).

Is Pepper 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
−272
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−318
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−404
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.67×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
63.4%
Peak was 2014 (161)
Years since peak
11
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.3% average annual change
Best rank ever
#956
1975

Spellings of Pepper

Pepper is not the most common spelling — Piper is, with 86.9% against Pepper's 4.6%.

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 Pepper is used

Across 2016–2025, Pepper was most concentrated in Utah — about 1 in 2,381 girls, against 1 in 14,794 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 100,000).

142 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Utah1 in 2,381
  2. 2Oregon1 in 5,263
  3. 3Washington1 in 5,263
  4. 4Oklahoma1 in 9,091
  5. 5California1 in 10,000
  6. 6Idaho1 in 11,111
  7. 7Colorado1 in 12,500
  8. 8Florida1 in 14,286

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.

Pepper around the world

Where Pepper 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
    2001–2025
    #4,867
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2009–2024
    #2,710
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1976–2013
    #818
    in 2013

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 Pepper

People whose public names include Pepper, 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.

Pepper by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,907
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 318
Best rank ever
#956
1975
Peak year
2014
161 that year
First recorded
1947
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,306
Count in 2025
102

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,349
1957
Peak year
1957
13 that year
First recorded
1937
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
245
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Pepper

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

CooperPyperJasperVesperKooperWhisperKemperJuniperCopperPiperHarperPieperProsperHesperPepsiEsperPipperPeppiCasperKasperSkipperKuiperKyperWisper

Names with a curve like Pepper

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

RosalynnKrishaChevelleKamilahHonorKamillaJudeGentryRoselynnRoriBrynleyLondynn

Sibling names for Pepper

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 Pepper

Top names of 2014, Pepper's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1975Girls' names starting with PHerb & Spice Names