Bayard
Bay-colored or bright chestnut-brown horse.
Name Census estimates that about 341 living Americans carry the first name Bayard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bayard today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bayard births was 1918 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bayard. 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.
People living today
341
~ 1 in 1,005,145 Americans
Peak year
1918
32 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2020 SSA rank
#10,756
Tracked since 1882
Popularity
Bayard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bayard from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 204 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bayard 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 Bayard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bayards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Bayard, while Massachusetts, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bayard
The name Bayard originated from the Old French word "bai" meaning "bay" or "reddish-brown" color. It was initially used as a descriptive nickname for someone with reddish-brown hair or complexion. The name traces its roots back to the medieval period in France, and its earliest recorded use dates back to the 12th century.
One of the earliest and most famous bearers of the name was Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (1473-1524), a French knight renowned for his courage, chivalry, and military prowess. He was dubbed "le chevalier sans peur et sans reproche" (the knight without fear and without reproach) and is considered a national hero in France.
Another notable Bayard was Bayard Taylor (1825-1878), an American poet, literary critic, translator, and travel writer. He is best known for his translation of Goethe's Faust and his travelogues, which chronicled his extensive journeys across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.
In literature, the name Bayard appears in the medieval French chivalric romance "Les Quatre Fils Aymon" (The Four Sons of Aymon), where Bayard is the name of the legendary horse ridden by Renaud de Montauban, one of the protagonists. The horse is depicted as a remarkably intelligent and loyal companion, possessing near-human qualities.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name in England can be found in the 14th century, with the birth of Bayard Colville in 1315. He was a member of the influential Colville family and served as a knight in the service of King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War.
Another notable Bayard was Bayard Rustin (1912-1987), an American civil rights activist, leader of the African-American civil rights movement, and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr. He played a crucial role in organizing the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.
People
Bayard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bayard 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
Bayard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bayard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 341 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bayard 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 1 in 1,005,145 US residents.
Is Bayard a common name?
We classify Bayard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 922 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bayard most popular?
The single biggest year for Bayard was 1918, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bayard is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bayard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bayard 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.
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.