Recorded 1981–2025 · United States
Journey was most popular in 2018, when 1,504 American babies were given the name — ranking #462 that year. In 2025 it ranked #756, with 836 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 22,893 people named Journey.
Journey first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1981, which makes it about 44 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 44 of the 45 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 22,893 American births named Journey between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 22,721 are estimated to be alive today.
836 American babies were named Journey in 2025, ranking #756 that year.
Journey is holding steady. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 1,070 births a year, against 1,084 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -1% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Journey is mostly a girl’s name — 91.2% of the 22,893 Americans given it were girls and 8.8% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 91% girls and 9% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 22,721 Americans named Journey are alive today — 99% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 10 years old, and half are between 6 and 15. That is a narrow band because Journey is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Journey on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org