Mabry
Of French origin, a variant of the surname Maubray meaning "evil counselor".
Name Census estimates that about 1,274 living Americans carry the first name Mabry. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 85.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Mabry today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mabry births was 2017 (81 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mabry. 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
- • Mabry started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Mabry is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 269,038 Americans
Peak year
2017
81 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2009 SSA rank
#2,864
Tracked since 1908
Census
Mabry in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,142 people with the first name Mabry, which placed it at #11,315 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
#11,315
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,142 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
89.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mabry
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mabry is White at 89.6%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Mabry 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 Mabry at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White89.6% · 1,023
- Black or African American3.2% · 36
- Two or more races3.0% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Mabry
Mabry leans heavily female at 85.4% of total registrations, but 213 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mabry as a male name
- Ranked #11,905 in 2009
- 6 male births in 2009
- Peak: 1921 (11 births)
Mabry as a female name
- Ranked #2,864 in 2024
- 58 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2017 (81 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mabry leans strongly female. 985 people counted with this name were female (85.7%), compared with 165 male bearers (14.3%).
Popularity
Mabry: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mabry from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 607 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mabry remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mabry 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 Mabry during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mabrys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Mabry, while Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mabry
The name Mabry has its roots in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English word "mæðere," which means "meadow." This suggests that the name may have been used to describe someone who lived near or worked in a meadow.
During the Middle Ages, the name Mabry appeared in various forms, such as "Mæðere" and "Mædere." It was a relatively common name among the Anglo-Saxon population of England. However, it is difficult to find specific historical references or records of individuals bearing this name during this period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mabry can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The name appears as "Mædere" in this document, suggesting its continued use among the English population.
Throughout the centuries, several notable figures have borne the name Mabry. One example is Mabry Kendrick Lewis (1808-1872), an American politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama. Another is Mabry C. "Mutt" Kendrick (1890-1972), an American baseball player who played in the Major Leagues from 1914 to 1920.
In the literary world, Mabry Middleton (1880-1952) was an American writer and journalist known for his works on southern culture and history. Mabry M. Lunney (1926-2007) was a prominent American lawyer and judge who served as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Arkansas.
One of the more recent individuals with the name Mabry was Mabry "Plant" Miller (1909-1965), an American jazz drummer and bandleader who played with notable musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman.
While the name Mabry has its origins in Old English and was more commonly used in the past, it has gradually become less prevalent in modern times. However, its connection to the natural world and its historical significance make it a unique and intriguing name with a rich heritage.
People
Mabry + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mabry as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mabry: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mabry?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,274 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mabry 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 269,038 US residents.
Is Mabry a common name?
We classify Mabry as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,461 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mabry most popular?
The single biggest year for Mabry was 2017, when 81 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mabry is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mabry in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,142 people with the name Mabry, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,315 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 Mabry 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 Mabry?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mabry leans strongly female. 985 people counted with this name were female (85.7%), compared with 165 male bearers (14.3%). 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 Mabry?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mabry is White at 89.6%. The next largest groups are Black (3.2%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Mabry most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mabry in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.6% (1,023 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 Mabry in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mabry a female name?
Yes, 85.4% of people registered as Mabry in the SSA data are female. 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 Mabry still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mabry 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 Mabry 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 Mabry?
Find out how many Americans are named Mabry on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.