Balfour
A masculine name of Scottish origin meaning "from the croft by the village".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Balfour. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Balfour today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Balfour births was 1914 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Balfour. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Balfour. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1914
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1928 SSA rank
#4,201
Tracked since 1914
Popularity
Balfour: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Balfour from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Balfour by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Balfour during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Balfour
The given name Balfour is of Scottish origin, derived from the Old English words "baele" meaning "source" or "spring" and "ford" meaning a shallow crossing of a river or stream. The name was likely given to individuals who lived near a source or spring of a river.
The name can be traced back to the 12th century in Scotland, particularly in the regions of Fife and Lothian. It was a common surname among Scottish noble families and landowners during the Middle Ages. The earliest recorded use of the name as a given name dates back to the late 16th century.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Balfour was Sir James Balfour (1513-1583), a Scottish annalist and judge. He served as Lord President of the Court of Session and was responsible for compiling a historical account of significant events in Scotland during his lifetime.
Another notable figure with the name Balfour was Arthur Balfour (1848-1930), a British statesman and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. He played a significant role in the formation of the Balfour Declaration in 1917, which expressed support for the establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Palestine.
In the United States, one of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Balfour was Robert Balfour (1705-1766), a Scottish merchant and land surveyor who helped establish the city of Wilmington, North Carolina, in the mid-18th century.
Another prominent individual with the given name Balfour was Sir Andrew Balfour (1630-1694), a Scottish physician and botanist. He served as the King's Botanist and was instrumental in establishing the Edinburgh Royal Botanic Garden.
Lastly, Balfour Harington Browne (1827-1905) was a British diplomat and writer who served as a consul in various countries, including Egypt and Turkey, during the 19th century. He wrote several books about his travels and experiences in the Middle East.
People
Balfour + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Balfour as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Balfour: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Balfour?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Balfour going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about - US residents.
Is Balfour a common name?
We classify Balfour as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Balfour most popular?
The single biggest year for Balfour was 1914, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Balfour is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Balfour in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Balfour a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Balfour in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Balfour still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Balfour in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Balfour can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Balfour?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Balfour on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.