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Ward

#2,876 in 2025Boys' name

Son of the poet

Ward has been given to 15,124 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #2,876 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1961, with 341 recorded.

Babies named Ward, 2025

1 in 75,300

Ward over time, 1880–2025

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Ward: meaning, origin, and history

Son of the poet

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Ward means

Ward means “son of the poet”, associated with bard.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

* As an English surname, from the noun ward and related cognates such as warden, guard etc. * As an Irish surname, reduced from McWard, from mac an bard (“son of the poet”). * As a Jewish surname, adapted from Warshawski, named after Warsaw. Comparable to Warszawski. * As a French surname, Americanized from Guerin.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Ward (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Ward is used in English and Dutch.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Ed and Edward.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Ward is pronounced /wɔɹd/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 15,026 boys were recorded with the name Ward between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 341 in 1961; its best national rank was #243 in 1899.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,686 in 2020 to #2,876 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,976 in 2015 to #2,876 in 2025.

In the United States, 98 girls were recorded with the name Ward between 1916 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 14 in 2025; its best national rank was #5,140 in 1916.

Over 10 years its rank rose, from #9,450 in 2015 to #7,861 in 2025.

How common is Ward?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 75,300
44 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 38,800
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,876
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
52,226 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Ward 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 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 52,226 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Ward. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Wards were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Ward was born before 1943 — so the typical Ward is around 82 today.

Median birth year
1943
About 82 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
16.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
4.8%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
6,238
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 16.7% of all recorded uses (2,510).

Is Ward 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
+451
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−190
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,100
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.63×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
12.9%
Peak was 1961 (341)
Years since peak
64
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
27.8% average annual change
Best rank ever
#243
1899

Spellings of Ward

Ward is not the most common spelling — Mark is, with 25.0% against Ward's 0.28%.

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 Ward is used

Across 1910–2025, Ward was most concentrated in Iowa — about 1 in 7,143 boys, against 1 in 18,992 across all states with data. It was least common in South Carolina (1 in —).

014 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Iowa1 in 7,143
  2. 2Michigan1 in 7,692
  3. 3Minnesota1 in 7,692
  4. 4West Virginia1 in 9,091
  5. 5Kansas1 in 10,000
  6. 6Nebraska1 in 10,000
  7. 7Washington1 in 10,000
  8. 8Illinois1 in 12,500

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

Ward around the world

Where Ward 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
    2000–2024
    #4,271
    in 2024
  • France
    2025–2025
    #6,649
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1945–2003
    #588
    in 2003

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, 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. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Notable people named Ward

People whose public names include Ward, 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.

Ward by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,876
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 190
Best rank ever
#243
1899
Peak year
1961
341 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
15,026
Count in 2025
44

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#7,861
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#5,140
1916
Peak year
2025
14 that year
First recorded
1916
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
98
Count in 2025
14

Names similar to Ward

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

WarnerLenardMaynardMillardWarrenGerardHaywardWarisWardellEduardShepardEdgardWillardWarrickRashardKennardWardenRenardHowardBallardBernardDillardGirardBenard

Names with a curve like Ward

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

BarneyRusselNorrisCarmenSanfordBoydNedVernDudleyClevelandWinfredEdmond

Sibling names for Ward

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 Ward

Top names of 1961, Ward's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1899More old man namesBoys' names starting with W