Forbes
A masculine name from a Scottish surname denoting abundance or prosperity.
Name Census estimates that about 98 living Americans carry the first name Forbes. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Forbes today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Forbes births was 1918 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Forbes. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Forbes with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Forbes. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
98
~ 1 in 3,497,493 Americans
Peak year
1918
12 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,869
Tracked since 1913
Census
Forbes in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 308 people with the first name Forbes, which placed it at #28,952 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
#28,952
National first-name rank
People counted
308
308 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Forbes
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Forbes is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Forbes 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 Forbes at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 210
- Black or African American17.2% · 53
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 16
- Two or more races4.9% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 14
Popularity
Forbes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Forbes from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 56 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Forbes remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Forbes 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 Forbes 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 Forbes
The given name Forbes has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language. It is derived from the Gaelic words "for" meaning "across" and "bas" meaning "palm", referring to a stream or river crossing. The name was initially used as a surname in Scotland, particularly in the regions of Aberdeenshire and Angus.
The earliest recorded use of Forbes as a given name dates back to the 16th century. One of the earliest notable individuals with this name was John Forbes (1568-1634), a Scottish minister and theologian who served as the minister of Alford, Aberdeenshire.
Another prominent figure with the name Forbes was Duncan Forbes (1685-1747), a Scottish lawyer and judge who served as Lord President of the Court of Session, the highest civil court in Scotland. He was known for his impartiality and fairness in legal matters.
In the 18th century, Forbes emerged as a given name in literary circles. James Forbes (1749-1819) was a Scottish writer and traveler who authored several books on his travels to Asia, including "Oriental Memoirs" and "Letters from Bombay".
One of the most famous individuals with the name Forbes was Alexander Forbes (1817-1875), a Scottish-born explorer and writer. He is best known for his explorations of the Arctic regions and his book "Travels through the Alps of Savoy and Other Parts of the Pennine Chain".
In the 19th century, Forbes gained prominence as a given name in the United States. John Forbes (1831-1912) was an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Bell Telephone Company and served as its president from 1879 to 1887.
While the name Forbes has its roots in Scotland, it has been adopted and used as a given name in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. Throughout history, individuals with the name Forbes have made significant contributions in fields such as religion, law, literature, exploration, and business.
People
Forbes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Forbes 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
Forbes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Forbes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 98 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Forbes 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 3,497,493 US residents.
Is Forbes a common name?
We classify Forbes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 234 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Forbes most popular?
The single biggest year for Forbes was 1918, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Forbes is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Forbes in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 308 people with the name Forbes, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,952 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 Forbes 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 Forbes?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Forbes leans strongly male. 285 people counted with this name were male (92.2%), compared with 24 female bearers (7.8%). 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 Forbes?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Forbes is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.2%) and Hispanic (5.2%). 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 Forbes most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Forbes in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (210 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 Forbes in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Forbes a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Forbes 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 Forbes still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Forbes 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 Forbes 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 named Forbes?
Want to know how many people have the name Forbes? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.