Buffy
A diminutive of the English word "buff," meaning red-haired or fair-skinned.
Name Census estimates that about 2,955 living Americans carry the first name Buffy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Buffy today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Buffy births was 1971 (320 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Buffy. 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
3.0K
~ 1 in 115,991 Americans
Peak year
1971
320 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1971 SSA rank
#4,451
Tracked since 1951
Gender
Gender distribution for Buffy
Out of the 3,312 babies given the name Buffy since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Buffy as a male name
- Ranked #4,451 in 1971
- 6 male births in 1971
- Peak: 1971 (6 births)
Buffy as a female name
- Ranked #13,737 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1972 (319 births)
Popularity
Buffy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Buffy from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,251 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
Buffy 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 Buffy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Buffys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. California, Ohio, Georgia recorded the most babies named Buffy, while Idaho, Connecticut, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 63 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Buffy
The name Buffy is a diminutive form of the medieval English name Buffa, which itself is derived from the Old French word "buffe" meaning "toad" or "buffalo." The name's origins can be traced back to the 12th century in parts of what is now France and England.
In the Middle Ages, the name Buffa was sometimes given as a nickname or descriptive name, perhaps referring to someone with a large or stout physique resembling that of a buffalo. The transition to the diminutive form Buffy likely occurred in the 13th or 14th century as a term of endearment or affection.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Buffy can be found in the 14th-century manuscript "The Canterbury Tales" by Geoffrey Chaucer, where a character named "Buffy the Reeve" is mentioned. This suggests the name was in use, at least in certain regions, during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Buffy. In the 16th century, Buffy Somerton (1532-1597) was an English courtier and landowner who served under Queen Elizabeth I. In the 18th century, Buffy Stanhope (1721-1786) was a British army officer who fought in the Jacobite Rebellion.
Other historical figures with the name Buffy include Buffy Fairfax (1845-1911), an American socialite and philanthropist, and Buffy Cobb (1901-1973), a British tennis player who competed in the Wimbledon Championships in the 1920s.
Additionally, the name Buffy has been used in literature and popular culture over the years. In the 19th century, Buffy St. John was a character in the novel "The Luck of Barry Lyndon" by William Makepeace Thackeray. More recently, the name gained widespread recognition as the title character in the popular television series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," which aired from 1997 to 2003.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Buffy
People
Buffy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Buffy 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
Buffy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Buffy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,955 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Buffy 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 115,991 US residents.
Is Buffy a common name?
We classify Buffy as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,312 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Buffy most popular?
The single biggest year for Buffy was 1971, when 320 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Buffy is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Buffy a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Buffy in the SSA data are female. 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.