Cord
Of Old English origin, designating a dweller by the cord or boundary.
Name Census estimates that about 1,743 living Americans carry the first name Cord. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cord today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cord births was 1990 (100 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cord. 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
1.7K
~ 1 in 196,646 Americans
Peak year
1990
100 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,080
Tracked since 1920
Popularity
Cord: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cord from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 504 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cord 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 Cord during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cords live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Texas, California, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Cord, while Utah, Ohio, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cord
The name Cord originates from the Old English and Old German words "cord" or "kord," which mean "rope" or "string." It was likely initially used as a surname for someone who worked with ropes or cords, like a rope-maker or sailor.
In the Middle Ages, the name Cord was particularly popular in Germany and the Low Countries. One of the earliest recorded examples of the name is Saint Cord (c. 1180-1248), a Franciscan friar and missionary who was active in Germany and the Netherlands. He is known for his efforts to convert pagans and his miracles attributed to him.
Another notable historical figure with this name was Cord Kluit (1684-1766), a Dutch jurist and historian who wrote extensively on the history of the Netherlands. He is considered one of the founders of modern historical criticism and methodology.
In the 16th century, Cord Siemens (c. 1500-1570) was a German Anabaptist leader and theologian who played a significant role in the Radical Reformation movement. He was known for his pacifist and non-resistant beliefs.
During the Renaissance, Cord Lubbers (c. 1500-1556) was a Dutch humanist scholar and poet who wrote in Latin and Greek. He was a professor at the University of Louvain and is remembered for his contributions to classical literature and education.
In the 19th century, Cord Titz (1822-1895) was a German painter and illustrator known for his landscape paintings and illustrations of fairy tales and legends. He was part of the Düsseldorf School of Painting and his works are held in various museums in Germany.
While the name Cord has been primarily used in German-speaking regions and the Low Countries historically, it has also been adopted in other parts of Europe and beyond. However, it remains a relatively uncommon first name in most parts of the world today.
People
Cord + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cord 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
Cord: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cord?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,743 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cord 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 196,646 US residents.
Is Cord a common name?
We classify Cord as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,821 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cord most popular?
The single biggest year for Cord was 1990, when 100 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cord is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Cord a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cord 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.