Recorded 1915–2025 · United States
Memphis was most popular in 2021, when 986 American babies were given the name — ranking #671 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,043, with 580 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 12,735 people named Memphis.
Memphis first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1915, which makes it about 110 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 44 of the 111 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 12,735 American births named Memphis 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 12,542 are estimated to be alive today.
580 American babies were named Memphis in 2025, ranking #1,043 that year.
Memphis is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 793 births a year, against 442 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +79% 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 Memphis is a unisex name — 20.0% of the 12,735 Americans given it were girls and 80.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 21% girls and 79% 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 12,542 Americans named Memphis are alive today — 98% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 8 years old, and half are between 5 and 15. That is a narrow band because Memphis 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 Memphis on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org