Cookie
A nickname or pet name referring to the sweet pastry item.
Name Census estimates that about 406 living Americans carry the first name Cookie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cookie today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cookie births was 1958 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cookie. 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 Cookie is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cookies were born before 1971.
People living today
406
~ 1 in 844,223 Americans
Peak year
1958
35 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1993 SSA rank
#13,928
Tracked since 1940
Census
Cookie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 940 people with the first name Cookie, which placed it at #13,011 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
#13,011
National first-name rank
People counted
940
940 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cookie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cookie is White at 49.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.9%) and Hispanic (14.9%). 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 Cookie 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 Cookie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.9% · 469
- Black or African American23.9% · 225
- Hispanic or Latino14.9% · 140
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 60
- Two or more races3.2% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 16
Popularity
Cookie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cookie from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 251 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cookie 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 Cookie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cookies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Cookie, while Ohio, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cookie
The given name Cookie is a relatively modern invention, emerging in the 20th century. It does not have a clear linguistic origin or cultural roots in any particular language or region. Instead, it is likely derived from the English word "cookie," referring to the small, flat, baked treat.
While the name may seem whimsical or unconventional, it has been embraced by some parents in the English-speaking world, perhaps as a way to express a sense of playfulness or affection for their child. However, due to its novelty, there are no known historical references or ancient texts that mention the name Cookie.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cookie was in the United States, where a woman named Cookie Wilson was born in 1922 in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, little is known about her life or significance beyond her unusual first name.
Another notable individual named Cookie was Cookie Gilchrist, an American football player who was born in 1935 in Mississippi. He played in the National Football League (NFL) for several teams, including the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos, and was known for his powerful running style. He passed away in 2011.
In the world of sports, there was also Cookie Rojas, a Cuban-American professional baseball player who was born in 1939 in Havana, Cuba. He played for several Major League Baseball teams, including the Kansas City Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies, and later became a coach and manager. He passed away in 1992.
In the entertainment industry, Cookie Knapp was an American actress and dancer who was born in 1927 in New York City. She appeared in several Broadway shows and films throughout her career, which spanned from the 1940s to the 1970s.
Finally, Cookie Mueller was an American writer, actress, and performance artist who was born in 1949 in Baltimore, Maryland. She was known for her avant-garde works and her association with the underground art scene in New York City during the 1970s and 1980s. She passed away in 1989.
While the name Cookie may be unconventional, these individuals embraced it and left their mark in various fields, from sports to entertainment and the arts.
People
Cookie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cookie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cookie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cookie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 406 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cookie 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 844,223 US residents.
Is Cookie a common name?
We classify Cookie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 573 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cookie most popular?
The single biggest year for Cookie was 1958, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cookie is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cookie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 940 people with the name Cookie, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,011 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 Cookie 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 Cookie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cookie leans strongly female. 870 people counted with this name were female (92.6%), compared with 70 male bearers (7.4%). 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 Cookie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cookie is White at 49.9%. The next largest groups are Black (23.9%) and Hispanic (14.9%). 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 Cookie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cookie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.9% (469 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 Cookie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cookie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cookie 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.
Is Cookie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cookie 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 Cookie 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 have the name Cookie?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.