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Temple

#10,832 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

English surname transferred into given-name use

Temple has been given to 2,396 babies in the U.S. since 1884. In 2025 it ranked #10,832 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1971, with 88 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 65% girls, 35% boys all-time.

Babies named Temple, 2025

1 in 368,000

Temple over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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

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

18842025

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.

Temple: meaning, origin, and history

English surname transferred into given-name use

Latin

What Temple means

Temple is a given name.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Temple is used in English (Rare).

Another recorded pronunciation is /ˈtɛm.pəl/ for Temple.

The naming story behind Temple

Temple is a given name adopted from English surname. This establishes the immediate naming route. A surname transfer is different from a direct translation of the modern given-name spelling; the family name may have its own earlier derivation.

Origin, language, and formation

Temple is used in English. Its origins include Latin.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,568 girls were recorded with the name Temple between 1884 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 88 in 1971; its best national rank was #1,161 in 1884.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,916 in 2020 to #10,832 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #10,086 in 2015 to #10,832 in 2025.

In the United States, 828 boys were recorded with the name Temple between 1888 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 26 in 1964; its best national rank was #1,167 in 1888.

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 Temple?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 368,000
9 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 179,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#10,832
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
255,323 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Temple 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 255,323 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Temple. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Temples were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Temple was born before 1971 — so the typical Temple is around 54 today.

Median birth year
1971
About 54 years old
Biggest decade
1970s
21.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
20.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,219
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1970s — 21.0% of all recorded uses (330).

Is Temple 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
−1,332
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,916
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−746
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.82×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
10.2%
Peak was 1971 (88)
Years since peak
54
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
31.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,161
1884

Spellings of Temple

Temple is not the most common spelling — Dimple is, with 38.5% against Temple's 24.7%.

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 Temple is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Temple was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 674,581 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Illinois1 in —
  3. 3Indiana1 in —
  4. 4Louisiana1 in —
  5. 5North Carolina1 in —
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in —
  7. 7Texas1 in —
  8. 8Virginia1 in —

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

Where Temple is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Temple was most concentrated in Oklahoma — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 454,621 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Oklahoma1 in —
  2. 2Texas1 in —
  3. 3Virginia1 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. Temple has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Temple by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#10,832
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,916
Best rank ever
#1,161
1884
Peak year
1971
88 that year
First recorded
1884
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,568
Count in 2025
9

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,167
1888
Peak year
1964
26 that year
First recorded
1888
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
828
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Temple

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

TempestTempieTemekaTemikaTemimaTemariMapleDimpleAppleTemicaTemaTempesttTemekiaTemperanceTemecaTemiaTemeshaTemaraTemitopeTemishaTemiTemiloluwaTemiladeTemaka

Sibling names for Temple

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 Temple

Top names of 1971, Temple's peak yearThe 1970s in fullOther names that peaked in 1884Girls' names starting with T