Name Awesome

Trace

#758 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Tracy

Trace has been given to 14,112 babies in the U.S. since 1956. In 2025 it ranked #758 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2008, with 534 recorded.

Babies named Trace, 2025

1 in 9,750

Trace over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Trace: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Tracy

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Trace means

Trace is a short form of Tracy.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Trace → Tracy. The family’s meaning is “domain belonging to Thracius”, recorded in the naming reference for Tracy.

Origin, language, and formation

Trace is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Tracy and Tracey.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 13,764 boys were recorded with the name Trace between 1956 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 534 in 2008; its best national rank was #439 in 1998.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #763 in 2020 to #758 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #801 in 2015 to #758 in 2025.

In the United States, 348 girls were recorded with the name Trace between 1959 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 25 in 1970; its best national rank was #2,852 in 1970.

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 Trace?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 9,750
340 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 5,020
0.02% of boys
Rank, 2025
#758
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
6,760 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Trace 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 1001%
School of 5005%

Put another way: gather 6,760 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Trace. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Traces were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Trace was born before 2007 — so the typical Trace is around 18 today.

Median birth year
2007
About 18 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
32.9% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
71.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
13,764
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 32.9% of all recorded uses (4,524).

Is Trace 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
−55
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+5
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+43
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.17×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
63.7%
Peak was 2008 (534)
Years since peak
17
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
8.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#439
1998

Spellings of Trace

Trace is not the most common spelling — Bruce is, with 42.6% against Trace's 1.5%.

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 Trace is used

Across 2016–2025, Trace was most concentrated in Mississippi — about 1 in 1,887 boys, against 1 in 4,963 across all states with data. It was least common in New York (1 in 33,333).

353 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Mississippi1 in 1,887
  2. 2Louisiana1 in 1,923
  3. 3Iowa1 in 2,000
  4. 4Kentucky1 in 2,381
  5. 5Indiana1 in 2,632
  6. 6Oklahoma1 in 2,703
  7. 7Pennsylvania1 in 2,778
  8. 8Alabama1 in 2,857

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.

Geographically, Trace is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 48% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Trace around the world

Where Trace 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
    2018–2022
    #4,790
    in 2022
  • Canada
    1992–2024
    #2,134
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1988–2013
    #754
    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 Trace

People whose public names include Trace, 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.

Trace in other languages

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

TraceeTraceyTracie

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

Trace by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#758
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 5
Best rank ever
#439
1998
Peak year
2008
534 that year
First recorded
1956
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
13,764
Count in 2025
340

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,852
1970
Peak year
1970
25 that year
First recorded
1959
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
348
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Trace

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

TraceyTravonTracyTraeChaceTrayvonTrayTravionHoraceAceKaceGraceTravenTravisTrayceJaceMaceTracenTrapperTravinTramaineTravellRaceTraevon

Names with a curve like Trace

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

UlisesMisaelRohanAlonsoUrielReeceKoleJulienReeseDavionIsaiZechariah

Sibling names for Trace

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 Trace

Top names of 2008, Trace's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1998Boys' names starting with T