Eastwood
A topographic name derived from an easterly located forest or woodland.
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Eastwood. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Eastwood today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eastwood births was 2019 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eastwood. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Eastwood. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
2019
7 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2019 SSA rank
#10,026
Tracked since 2019
Popularity
Eastwood: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Eastwood 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 Eastwood during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Eastwood
The name Eastwood is an English locational surname that later evolved into a given name. It is derived from the Old English words "east" and "wudu," meaning "east wood" or "eastern wood." This likely referred to someone who lived near or in an easterly located forest or wooded area.
In the early medieval period, surnames began to emerge as a way to distinguish people with the same first name. These locational surnames were common, indicating where a person was from. The name Eastwood first appeared in records from the 13th century in areas such as Yorkshire and Lancashire in northern England.
One of the earliest recorded uses of Eastwood as a first name dates back to the 16th century. In 1582, an Eastwood Johnson was mentioned in parish records from Shropshire, England. This demonstrates how locational surnames like Eastwood began to be adopted as given names during this period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the first name Eastwood. One of the earliest was Eastwood Taylor (1674-1717), an English mathematician and writer who authored works on navigation and astronomy. Another early example was Eastwood Wilkinson (1780-1862), a British Quaker minister and abolitionist active in the anti-slavery movement.
In more recent times, the name gained wider recognition due to the American actor and filmmaker Eastwood Clint (born 1930). He has had a prolific career spanning over six decades, starring in countless films and winning multiple awards, including four Academy Awards.
Other notable Eastwoods include Eastwood Anaba (born 1968), a former professional basketball player from Ghana, and Eastwood Atwater (1801-1872), an American businessman and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Ohio in the 1830s.
While originally an English locational surname, the name Eastwood has evolved over centuries and been adopted as a given name across various cultures and regions, with its meaning and history rooted in the Old English language and a connection to the eastern woods or forests of medieval England.
People
Eastwood + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eastwood as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eastwood: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eastwood?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eastwood 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Eastwood a common name?
We classify Eastwood as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eastwood most popular?
The single biggest year for Eastwood was 2019, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eastwood is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Eastwood in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eastwood a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eastwood 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 Eastwood still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eastwood 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 Eastwood 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Eastwood?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.