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Promise

#826 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

English word name: promise

Promise has been given to 6,838 babies in the U.S. since 1975. In 2025 it ranked #826 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 395 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 94% girls, 6% boys all-time.

Babies named Promise, 2025

1 in 10,000

Promise over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030040018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

In 2025, Promise went to 95% girls and 5% boys.

19752025

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.

Promise: meaning, origin, and history

English word name: promise

English

What Promise means

Promise is documented as an English vocabulary word adopted as a personal name. Its immediate reference is the word promise; the cited entry discusses the word history separately from its use as a given name.

Origin, language, and formation

Promise is used in English. Its origins include English.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,426 girls were recorded with the name Promise between 1975 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 395 in 2023; its best national rank was #714 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #853 in 2020 to #826 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,071 in 2015 to #826 in 2025.

In the United States, 412 boys were recorded with the name Promise between 1992 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 38 in 2022; its best national rank was #3,200 in 2022.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,110 in 2020 to #5,341 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #5,227 in 2015 to #5,341 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.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Promise?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 10,000
330 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 4,870
0.02% of girls
Rank, 2025
#826
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
6,964 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Promise 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 5005%

Put another way: gather 6,964 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Promise. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Promises were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Promise was born before 2015 — so the typical Promise is around 10 today.

Median birth year
2015
About 10 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
37.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
90.1%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
6,426
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 37.8% of all recorded uses (2,430).

Is Promise 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
−7
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+27
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+245
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.34×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
83.5%
Peak was 2023 (395)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
10.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#714
2023

Spellings of Promise

Promise is the most-used spelling, taking 74.2% of the 8,658 babies given a near-identical spelling.

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 Promise is used — girls

Across 2016–2025, Promise was most concentrated in Georgia — about 1 in 1,370 girls, against 1 in 4,226 across all states with data. It was least common in Arizona (1 in 33,333).

373 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Georgia1 in 1,370
  2. 2South Carolina1 in 1,471
  3. 3Mississippi1 in 1,695
  4. 4District of Columbia1 in 1,852
  5. 5Alabama1 in 2,381
  6. 6Tennessee1 in 2,564
  7. 7Arkansas1 in 2,703
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 2,703

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.

Geographically, Promise is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 74% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Where Promise is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Promise was most concentrated in Florida — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,632,206 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Florida1 in —
  2. 2New York1 in —
  3. 3Texas1 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. Promise has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Promise around the world

Where Promise 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
    2004–2023
    #4,710
    in 2023
  • Ireland
    2002–2007
    #842
    in 2007
  • France
    2011–2019
    #7,152
    in 2019
  • Canada
    1996–2023
    #2,435
    in 2023
  • South Australia
    2008–2008
    #796
    in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS 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 Promise

People whose public names include Promise, 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.

Promise in other languages

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

GageEliseShebaVaniaAdityaAmarisYamina

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

Promise by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#826
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 27
Best rank ever
#714
2023
Peak year
2023
395 that year
First recorded
1975
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,426
Count in 2025
330

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,341
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 1,231
Best rank ever
#3,200
2022
Peak year
2022
38 that year
First recorded
1992
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
412
Count in 2025
18

Names similar to Promise

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

AnaliseElouiseDenniseAnnelisePromyseJeniseCheriseAnnaliseJaniseAliseHeloiseElloiseChariseParadiseAneliseDeloiseEllouisePraiseShaniseBlaiseKaliseAngeliseCeriseEllise

Names with a curve like Promise

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

ElinaMarleighAzariahBerkleyJenesisMaddieSariyahKamiyahAyaZoyaAliannaNaya

Sibling names for Promise

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 Promise

Top names of 2023, Promise's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2023Girls' names starting with P