Recorded 1884–2025 · United States
Whitney was most popular in 1986, when 9,781 American babies were given the name — ranking #79 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,910, with 251 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 103,657 people named Whitney.
Whitney first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1884, which makes it about 141 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 129 of the 142 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 103,657 American births named Whitney 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 99,417 are estimated to be alive today.
251 American babies were named Whitney in 2025, ranking #1,910 that year.
Whitney is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 262 births a year, against 504 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -48% 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 Whitney is mostly a girl’s name — 94.2% of the 103,657 Americans given it were girls and 5.8% were boys. It changed hands: since 1962 it has gone mainly to girls, having gone mainly to boys before that. In births since 2016 it is 96% girls and 4% 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 99,417 Americans named Whitney are alive today — 96% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 37 years old, and half are between 32 and 40. That is a narrow band: Whitney arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
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 Whitney on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org