Fleetwood
From an English place name referring to a swift-flowing stream.
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Fleetwood. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Fleetwood today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fleetwood births was 1921 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fleetwood. 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 Fleetwood is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Fleetwoods were born before 1960.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Fleetwood. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1921
11 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1958 SSA rank
#3,670
Tracked since 1902
Census
Fleetwood in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 106 people with the first name Fleetwood, which placed it at #52,574 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
#52,574
National first-name rank
People counted
106
106 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fleetwood
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fleetwood is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Black (27.4%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Fleetwood 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 Fleetwood at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.9% · 72
- Black or African American27.4% · 29
- Two or more races2.8% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
Popularity
Fleetwood: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fleetwood from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 39 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
Fleetwood 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 Fleetwood during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fleetwood
The name Fleetwood originates from the Old English language and dates back to the 7th century. It is a compound name composed of two words: "fleet," meaning a creek or tidal inlet, and "wood," referring to a forest or wooded area. Fleetwood essentially translates to "wood by the creek" or "forest near the inlet."
The earliest known usage of the name can be traced back to the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land holdings and population census commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The town of Fleetwood, located in Lancashire, England, is mentioned in this historical document, suggesting the name's existence during that time period.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Fleetwood was Roger Fleetwood, a 14th-century English landowner and member of the gentry from Lancashire. Another notable figure was William Fleetwood (1535-1594), a renowned English lawyer and Recorder of London during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 17th century, Charles Fleetwood (1618-1692) was a prominent English parliamentary soldier and military leader who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate. During the English Civil War, he played a crucial role in supporting the Parliamentarian cause.
Another notable bearer of the name was the English clergyman and theologian William Fleetwood (1656-1723), who served as the Bishop of Ely and authored several influential works on religious topics.
In more recent history, Mick Fleetwood (born 1947) is a renowned English drummer and co-founder of the legendary rock band Fleetwood Mac. His surname, derived from the same Old English roots as the given name, has contributed to the name's enduring popularity and recognition in modern times.
While the name Fleetwood has its roots in the Old English language and was initially associated with geographical locations, it has since been adopted as a given name in its own right, carrying a rich historical legacy spanning several centuries.
People
Fleetwood + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fleetwood as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fleetwood: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fleetwood?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fleetwood 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Fleetwood a common name?
We classify Fleetwood as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 96 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fleetwood most popular?
The single biggest year for Fleetwood was 1921, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fleetwood is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fleetwood in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 106 people with the name Fleetwood, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,574 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 Fleetwood 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 Fleetwood?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fleetwood leans strongly male. 96 people counted with this name were male (86.5%), compared with 15 female bearers (13.5%). 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 Fleetwood?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fleetwood is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Black (27.4%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Fleetwood most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fleetwood in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.9% (72 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 Fleetwood in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fleetwood a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fleetwood 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 Fleetwood still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fleetwood 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 Fleetwood 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 are called Fleetwood?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Fleetwood at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.