Budd
From an old English term meaning prosperous or fortunate.
Name Census estimates that about 411 living Americans carry the first name Budd. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Budd today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Budd births was 1923 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Budd. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Budd is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Budds were born before 1969.
People living today
411
~ 1 in 833,952 Americans
Peak year
1923
34 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1990 SSA rank
#7,294
Tracked since 1880
Census
Budd in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 473 people with the first name Budd, which placed it at #21,475 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
#21,475
National first-name rank
People counted
473
473 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Budd
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Budd is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Black (1.7%). 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 Budd 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 Budd at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.5% · 433
- Two or more races3.0% · 14
- Black or African American1.7% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 4
Popularity
Budd: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Budd from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 226 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
Budd 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 Budd during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Budds live
Origin
Meaning and history of Budd
The name Budd is an English given name derived from the Middle English word "budde," which means "prosperous" or "thriving." Its origins can be traced back to the 13th century.
During the Middle Ages, the name Budd was commonly used as a nickname or shortened form of other names containing the syllable "bud," such as Budwin or Budwig. It was particularly popular among the Anglo-Saxon population in England and later spread to other parts of the British Isles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Budd can be found in the Hundred Rolls of the late 13th century, where it appears as a surname. In the 14th century, the name gained popularity as a given name, with records showing individuals named Budd living in various parts of England.
Historical references to the name Budd are relatively scarce, but it has been associated with a few notable figures throughout history. One example is Budd Boetticher (1916-2001), an American film director known for his Westerns, such as "Seven Men from Now" and "The Tall T."
Another notable figure with the name Budd is Budd Schulberg (1914-2009), an American novelist, screenwriter, and screenwriter known for his works like "What Makes Sammy Run?" and the Academy Award-winning screenplay for "On the Waterfront."
In the realm of sports, Budd Bailey (born 1950) is a well-known American sportswriter and author from Buffalo, New York. He has written several books and has been inducted into the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame.
Budd Dwyer (1939-1987) was an American politician who gained notoriety for committing suicide during a televised press conference after being convicted of bribery charges.
Lastly, Budd Boetticher (1916-2001), an American film director known for his Westerns, such as "Seven Men from Now" and "The Tall T," is another notable figure with the name Budd.
While the name Budd has never been among the most popular given names, it has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States and the United Kingdom.
People
Budd + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Budd 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
Budd: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Budd?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 411 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Budd 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 833,952 US residents.
Is Budd a common name?
We classify Budd as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,090 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Budd most popular?
The single biggest year for Budd was 1923, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Budd is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Budd in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 473 people with the name Budd, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,475 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 Budd 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 Budd?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Budd appears almost entirely male. Of the 472 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Budd?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Budd is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and Black (1.7%). 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 Budd most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Budd in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (433 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 Budd in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Budd a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Budd 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 Budd still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Budd 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 Budd 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 common is the name Budd?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Budd at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.