Beckett
A masculine name of Norman French origin referring to a small brook or stream.
Name Census estimates that about 27,686 living Americans carry the first name Beckett. It sits at #166 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It is a predominantly male name (95.5% of registrations). The average person named Beckett today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Beckett births was 2024 (2,297 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Beckett. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Beckett with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Beckett is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,267 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Beckett is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
28K
~ 1 in 12,380 Americans
Peak year
2024
2,297 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#166
Tracked since 1966
Census
Beckett in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 17,465 people with the first name Beckett, which placed it at #1,735 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#1,735
National first-name rank
People counted
17K
17,465 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Beckett
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beckett is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Beckett described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Beckett at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.3% · 15,592
- Two or more races5.1% · 892
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 784
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 99
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 56
- Black or African American0.2% · 42
Gender
Gender distribution for Beckett
Beckett leans heavily male at 95.5% of total registrations, but 1,267 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Beckett as a male name
- Ranked #166 in 2024
- 2,186 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (2,186 births)
Beckett as a female name
- Ranked #1,801 in 2024
- 111 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (128 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beckett leans strongly male. 16,695 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 771 female bearers (4.4%).
Popularity
Beckett: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Beckett from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 15,051 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Beckett remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Beckett 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 Beckett during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Becketts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Beckett, while Hawaii, New Mexico, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 516 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Beckett
The name Beckett has its origins in the medieval English language, derived from the Old English words "bece" meaning a stream or brook, and "hett" meaning a dwelling or homestead. It was originally a locational surname given to families residing near a small stream or rivulet.
The earliest recorded use of the name Beckett dates back to the 12th century, found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholdings and taxation compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name appeared as "Becchet" in this document, referring to a locality in Nottinghamshire, England.
In the 13th century, the name Beckett gained prominence due to its association with St. Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury who was assassinated in 1170 on the orders of King Henry II. Becket's martyrdom and subsequent canonization as a saint popularized the name throughout medieval Europe.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Beckett was Thomas Becket (c. 1119 – 1170), the famous Archbishop of Canterbury whose conflict with King Henry II led to his murder in Canterbury Cathedral, an event that shaped the Church's relationship with the English monarchy.
Another historical figure bearing the name was Samuel Beckett (1906 – 1989), the renowned Irish novelist, playwright, and poet, widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. Beckett's works, such as "Waiting for Godot" and "Endgame," explored themes of existentialism and the absurdity of human existence.
In the realm of sports, Walter Beckett (1914 – 1996) was a professional baseball player for the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies, known for his defensive skills as an outfielder and his clutch hitting during his career in the 1930s and 1940s.
Another notable figure was Mary Beckett (1926 – 2013), a British author and illustrator who wrote and illustrated numerous children's books, including the popular "Wallypug" series, which followed the adventures of a benevolent little creature.
Sir Edmund Beckett (1787 – 1874) was a prominent English lawyer and Member of Parliament, who served as the first Baron Grimthorpe and played a significant role in the construction and restoration of several historic buildings, including St Albans Cathedral and the Palace of Westminster.
People
Beckett + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Beckett 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
Beckett: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Beckett?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27,686 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Beckett 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 12,380 US residents.
Is Beckett a common name?
We classify Beckett as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 27,893 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Beckett most popular?
The single biggest year for Beckett was 2024, when 2,297 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Beckett is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Beckett in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 17,465 people with the name Beckett, or 5.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,735 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Beckett in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Beckett?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Beckett leans strongly male. 16,695 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 771 female bearers (4.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Beckett?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Beckett is White at 89.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.1%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Beckett most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Beckett in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.3% (15,592 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Beckett in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Beckett a male name?
Yes, 95.5% of people registered as Beckett 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 Beckett still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Beckett 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 Beckett 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.
How many people are named Beckett?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.