Bubba
Diminutive of "brother", a term of endearment used for males.
Name Census estimates that about 419 living Americans carry the first name Bubba. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bubba today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bubba births was 1963 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bubba. 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
419
~ 1 in 818,029 Americans
Peak year
1963
35 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2023 SSA rank
#11,030
Tracked since 1945
Popularity
Bubba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bubba from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 191 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bubba 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 Bubba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bubbas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Mississippi, Georgia recorded the most babies named Bubba, while Georgia, Mississippi, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Bubba
The name Bubba is a diminutive form of the given name Brother, which originated in the Southern United States. It is believed to have emerged as a colloquial term used by siblings to address one another, particularly among lower-class families in rural areas. The earliest known usage of the name Bubba can be traced back to the late 19th century.
The name's roots are deeply ingrained in the cultural and linguistic traditions of the American South. It is derived from the Southern dialect's tendency to replace the "r" sound with a more guttural "b" sound, resulting in the transformation of "Brother" into "Bubba." This linguistic phenomenon is known as rhotacism and is a distinctive feature of many Southern American English dialects.
While there are no records of the name Bubba appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its usage has been documented in various literary works and historical accounts from the 20th century. One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name was Bubba Shone, a professional baseball player who played for the Philadelphia Athletics in the early 1900s.
Throughout history, several individuals with the name Bubba have gained recognition in various fields. One such person was Bubba Smith (1945-2011), a renowned American football player and actor who played for the Baltimore Colts and starred in the iconic film "Police Academy." Another notable figure was Bubba Sparxxx (born 1977), an American rapper and songwriter known for his contributions to the Southern rap genre.
In the realm of sports, Bubba Watson (born 1978) is a professional golfer who has won multiple major championships, including the Masters Tournament in 2012 and 2014. Bubba Franks (born 1978) is a former American football tight end who played for the Green Bay Packers and won a Super Bowl championship in 2010.
Bubba Dickerson (1941-2016) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who achieved success in the country music genre, recording several hit singles and albums during his career. His contributions to the development of the Southern rock and outlaw country music styles have left a lasting impact on the genre.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bubba
People
Bubba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bubba 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
Bubba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bubba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 419 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bubba 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 818,029 US residents.
Is Bubba a common name?
We classify Bubba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 498 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bubba most popular?
The single biggest year for Bubba was 1963, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bubba is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bubba a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bubba 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.