Bayne
Anglicized form of the French name Bayn, itself derived from Latin Benignus meaning "kind, courteous".
Name Census estimates that about 546 living Americans carry the first name Bayne. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bayne today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bayne births was 2013 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bayne. 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
546
~ 1 in 627,755 Americans
Peak year
2013
69 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,894
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Bayne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bayne from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 363 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bayne 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 Bayne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Baynes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Bayne, while California, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bayne
The given name Bayne is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "bean" and "dun", which together mean "bean hill" or "hill covered with beans". It is believed to have originated as a surname in the early Middle Ages, referring to someone who lived near or worked on a bean field or bean plantation.
Bayne first emerged as a first name in the late 16th century, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. At that time, it was not uncommon for English families to adopt their surnames as given names, especially for male children. The earliest recorded instance of Bayne as a first name dates back to 1592, in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk.
In the 17th century, Bayne became more widely used as a first name, particularly among the English gentry and nobility. One notable figure from this era was Bayne Whetstone (1602-1669), an English playwright and courtier who served under King Charles I. Another was Sir Bayne Throckmorton (1619-1681), a member of the prestigious Throckmorton family and a Royalist during the English Civil War.
The 18th century saw the name Bayne gain popularity in other parts of the British Isles, such as Scotland and Ireland. In 1723, Bayne Dunbar (1723-1798) was born in Inverness, Scotland, and later became a prominent Scottish businessman and landowner. Meanwhile, in Ireland, Bayne O'Reilly (1756-1832) was a notable Irish poet and writer who published several works in both English and Irish Gaelic.
As the British Empire expanded in the 19th century, the name Bayne began to appear in various colonial outposts and territories. One such individual was Bayne Trenchard (1836-1901), a British colonial administrator who served as the Governor of the Bahamas from 1892 to 1897. Another was Bayne Hutchinson (1860-1932), a British explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in Africa and Asia, making significant contributions to the field of zoology.
Despite its age and historical significance, the name Bayne has never been particularly common or widespread. However, it has been carried on by a small but notable number of individuals throughout the centuries, each adding their own unique chapter to the storied history of this distinctive English name.
People
Bayne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bayne 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
Bayne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bayne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 546 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bayne 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 627,755 US residents.
Is Bayne a common name?
We classify Bayne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 599 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bayne most popular?
The single biggest year for Bayne was 2013, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bayne is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bayne a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bayne 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.