Infant
Of Latin origin, meaning "child in earliest period of life".
Name Census estimates that about 7,871 living Americans carry the first name Infant. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Infant today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Infant births was 1990 (1,178 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Infant. 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
- • Infant sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
7.9K
~ 1 in 43,546 Americans
Peak year
1990
1,178 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2023 SSA rank
#5,538
Tracked since 1983
Gender
Gender distribution for Infant
Infant is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 8,096 total registrations, 4,206 (52.0%) were male and 3,890 (48.0%) were female.
Infant as a male name
- Ranked #5,538 in 2023
- 17 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1990 (596 births)
Infant as a female name
- Ranked #12,626 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1990 (582 births)
Popularity
Infant: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Infant from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 5,236 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
Infant 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 Infant during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Infants live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, Indiana, Florida recorded the most babies named Infant, while Alabama, Washington, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 969 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Infant
The name Infant has its origins in the late Latin word "infans," which means "unable to speak." This word was derived from the prefix "in-" meaning "not" and the root "fan" meaning "to speak." The name was used to refer to young children who had not yet developed the ability to speak.
During the Middle Ages, the term "infans" was commonly used in legal contexts to denote a minor or a person who had not yet reached the age of majority. In some regions, it was also used as a given name for newborn babies, reflecting the child's inability to communicate through speech.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Infant can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript survey of English landholdings commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this document, there are instances of individuals named Infans or Infanz, suggesting that the name was in use in England during the Norman period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Infant. One of the most famous was Infant Juan of Aragon (1350-1396), also known as the Infant of Majorca, who was a Prince of the Crown of Aragon and the son of King Peter IV of Aragon. He played a significant role in the conflicts between the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Castile during the 14th century.
Another notable figure was Infant Sancho of Aragon (1337-1347), who was the son of King Alfonso IV of Aragon and his wife, Eleanor of Castile. Although he died at a young age, he held the title of Count of Ribagorza and was briefly considered as a potential heir to the throne of Aragon.
In the 15th century, there was Infant Ferdinand of Aragon (1452-1516), who was the second son of King John II of Aragon and Queen Juana Enriquez. He was granted the title of Duke of Montblanc and played a significant role in the administration of the Crown of Aragon during his father's reign.
Moving to a different region, Infant Ishmael (1487-1557) was a prince of the Safavid dynasty in Persia (modern-day Iran). He was the son of Shah Ismail I, the founder of the Safavid Empire, and was considered a potential heir to the throne at various points in his life.
In the 16th century, there was Infant Louis of Spain (1545-1576), who was a Prince of Spain and the youngest son of King Philip II of Spain and his first wife, Maria Manuela of Portugal. He held various titles and appointments during his life, including that of Governor of the Netherlands.
People
Infant + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Infant as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Infant: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Infant?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,871 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Infant 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 43,546 US residents.
Is Infant a common name?
We classify Infant as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,096 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Infant most popular?
The single biggest year for Infant was 1990, when 1,178 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Infant is about 30 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 Infant in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Infant a male name?
Yes, 52.0% of people registered as Infant 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 Infant still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Infant 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 Infant 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 common is the name Infant?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.