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Ransom

#1,695 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Ransom has been given to 4,869 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,695 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2022, with 111 recorded.

Babies named Ransom, 2025

1 in 34,200

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ransom: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning and linguistic origin unconfirmed

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ransom means

Ransom is a given name.

The naming story behind Ransom

Wikidata records Ransom as a male given name. The entity identifier is Q16280808, 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, 4,859 boys were recorded with the name Ransom between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 111 in 2022; its best national rank was #464 in 1882.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,598 in 2020 to #1,695 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,576 in 2015 to #1,695 in 2025.

In the United States, 10 girls were recorded with the name Ransom between 2013 and 2019. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2013; its best national rank was #17,433 in 2019.

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 Ransom?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 34,200
97 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 17,600
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,695
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
23,691 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ransom 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 5001%

Put another way: gather 23,691 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ransom. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Ransoms were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ransom was born before 1983 — so the typical Ransom is around 42 today.

Median birth year
1983
About 42 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
18.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
39.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,107
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 18.2% of all recorded uses (885).

Is Ransom 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
−36
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−97
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−119
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.94×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
87.4%
Peak was 2022 (111)
Years since peak
3
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#464
1882

Spellings of Ransom

Ransom is not the most common spelling — Branson is, with 29.4% against Ransom's 17.4%.

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 Ransom is used

Across 2016–2025, Ransom was most concentrated in Tennessee — about 1 in 8,333 boys, against 1 in 25,426 across all states with data. It was least common in Florida (1 in 100,000).

112 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Tennessee1 in 8,333
  2. 2Texas1 in 14,286
  3. 3Oklahoma1 in 20,000
  4. 4Missouri1 in 25,000
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 25,000
  6. 6Washington1 in 25,000
  7. 7California1 in 33,333
  8. 8Georgia1 in 33,333

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.

Ransom around the world

Where Ransom 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.

  • Canada
    2010–2021
    #2,771
    in 2021

Popularity data from Statistics Canada. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Ransom

People whose public names include Ransom, 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.

Ransom by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,695
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 97
Best rank ever
#464
1882
Peak year
2022
111 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,859
Count in 2025
97

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#17,433
2019
Peak year
2013
5 that year
First recorded
2013
Last recorded
2019
All-time count
10
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Ransom

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

RandleRangerRanceRandellRandelRandalRandRandonRansonRanveerTaysomRanvirRanbirRandolRandiRandieRandolfIsomRandolphRankinRandenChisomRannieRande

Names with a curve like Ransom

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

HamptonWylieSmithLevyLinusHanselAlphaLeopoldLarkinCliveHenriArmin

Sibling names for Ransom

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 Ransom

Top names of 2022, Ransom's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1882Boys' names starting with R