Bucky
A diminutive form of the given name Buchanan, derived from the Gaelic meaning "from the monastery on the inlet."
Name Census estimates that about 801 living Americans carry the first name Bucky. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Bucky today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bucky births was 1979 (50 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bucky. 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
801
~ 1 in 427,908 Americans
Peak year
1979
50 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,584
Tracked since 1931
Popularity
Bucky: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bucky from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 268 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bucky 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 Bucky during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Buckys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bucky
The name Bucky is a diminutive or nickname form of the name Buchanan, which is of Scottish Gaelic origin. The name Buchanan is derived from the Gaelic words "buth" meaning "house" and "chanain" meaning "canon" or "preacher." It is believed to have originated as a surname in the 11th century for someone who lived near the house or church of a preacher.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bucky as a given name dates back to the late 19th century. One of the earliest known individuals with the name Bucky was Bucky Harris, an American baseball player and manager who was born in 1896 and died in 1977. He played for several teams, including the Boston Red Sox and the Washington Senators, and also managed the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.
Another notable individual with the name Bucky was Bucky Fuller, an American architect, systems theorist, and inventor who lived from 1895 to 1983. He is best known for his geodesic dome designs and his popularization of the term "Spaceship Earth" to describe the planet's ecosystem.
In literature, the name Bucky is famously associated with the character Bucky Barnes, the childhood friend and sidekick of Captain America in the Marvel Comics universe. The character first appeared in 1941 and has been a prominent figure in various comic book series, as well as in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films.
A more recent figure with the name Bucky is Bucky Covington, an American country music singer and former contestant on the television show American Idol. He was born in 1977 and has released several studio albums and singles since his debut in 2007.
While the name Bucky has Scottish origins, it has been used across various cultures and regions over time, often as a nickname or shortened form of the name Buchanan. The name's association with literary and pop culture characters has likely contributed to its enduring popularity and recognition.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Bucky
People
Bucky + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bucky 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
Bucky: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bucky?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 801 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bucky 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 427,908 US residents.
Is Bucky a common name?
We classify Bucky as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,027 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bucky most popular?
The single biggest year for Bucky was 1979, when 50 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bucky is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Bucky a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bucky 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.