ninan.org

Frank

Boys' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~359,000 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#513 among boys
Births in 2025
584 920,589 since 1880
Typical age
63 years, median

Frank popularity over time

Frank rank by birth year, 1880–2025Frank ranked #6 in 1880 and #513 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #6, in 1880.#10#100#513best #6 in 188018901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1918 is the peak year for Frank, with 17,089 births. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Across the record, 109 years put Frank in the top 100.

As of 2025 the name sits at #513, with 584 births that year. Over ten years the count has fallen 38%. It slipped 45 places against the previous year.

Babies named Frank per yearPeaks at 17,089 births in 1918.17,089 in 1918018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Frank?

About 359,000 people named Frank are alive in the United States today. SSA has recorded 920,589 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Frank?

Median age among living Franks: 63. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Frank a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Frank

Ages of living people named FrankHalf of living Franks are older than 63 and half younger.median 63020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Frank is most common

New Jersey uses the name 2.5× as often as the country as a whole. Connecticut, New York and Illinois follow.

Where Frank is used more than average5 states use the name Frank more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: 1.7× the national rateILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.9× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: 2.5× the national rateNJConnecticut: 2.1× the national rateCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: 1.5× the national rateMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Frank is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
New Jersey 404 2.5×
Connecticut 114 2.1×
New York 720 1.9×
Illinois 386 1.7×
Massachusetts 171 1.5×

Frank in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Frank ranked #186 in 2025 on 272 births.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Frank comes from

From Middle English Frank, partially from Old English Franca (“a Frank”); and partially from Old French Franc, and/or Latin Francus (“a Frank”), from Frankish *Franko (“a Frank”); both maybe from Proto-Germanic *frankô (“javelin”). Cognate with Old High German Franko (“a Frank”), Old English franca (“spear, javelin”). Compare Saxon, ultimately a derivative of *sahsą (“knife, dagger”). Doublet of franc, frank, farang.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Frank

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Frank Lloyd Wright American architect 1867–1959 178
Frank Zappa American musician 1940–1993 110
Frank Lampard English association football player and manager 1978 104
Frank Herbert American writer 1920–1986 91
Frank Capra Italian-born American film director 1897–1991 84
Frank Gehry Canadian and American architect 1929–2025 83
Frank Wilczek American theoretical physicist 1951 73
Frank Rijkaard Dutch association football player and manager 1962 70
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 4,343 in 1911 to 7,941 in 1912 — 1.8 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/frank.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).