Mason
A masculine name derived from an occupational term for a stone mason.
Roughly 331,695 people in the United States go by the first name Mason, which ranks #42 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. It is a predominantly male name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Mason today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mason births was 2011 (19,617 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Cameron (331,149).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mason. 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 Mason with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Mason is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 3,297 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Mason is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
332K
~ 1 in 1,033 Americans
Peak year
2011
19,617 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#42
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mason in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 269,853 people with the first name Mason, which placed it at #199 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
#199
National first-name rank
People counted
270K
269,853 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
89.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mason
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mason is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.8%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Mason 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 Mason at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.3% · 197,820
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 29,089
- Black or African American6.5% · 17,457
- Two or more races5.9% · 15,852
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 7,563
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2,072
Gender
Gender distribution for Mason
Out of the 339,506 babies given the name Mason since 1880, 99.0% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Mason as a male name
- Ranked #42 in 2024
- 6,471 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (19,528 births)
Mason as a female name
- Ranked #3,145 in 2024
- 51 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (162 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mason leans strongly male. 266,724 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 3,128 female bearers (1.2%).
Popularity
Mason: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mason from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 158,666 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mason 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 Mason during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Masons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Mason, while District of Columbia, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6,531 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mason
The name Mason originated in medieval England as an occupational surname for a mason or stone worker, derived from the Old French word masson, meaning "one who works with stone." The name's roots can be traced back to the Latin word "machio," meaning "stoneworker" or "builder."
The earliest recorded instances of the name Mason as a given name date back to the 16th century, when it was used as a first name for boys born into families of stoneworkers or masons. During this period, occupational names were commonly adopted as given names, reflecting the importance of family trades and professions.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Mason was Mason Rudolph, a prominent English mason who lived in the late 16th century and was known for his work on various churches and cathedrals in the country.
In the 17th century, the name gained popularity among the Puritan settlers in America, who often chose biblical names or names with strong moral connotations. The name Mason was seen as a virtuous name, reflecting the values of hard work, craftsmanship, and building a solid foundation.
Notable historical figures with the name Mason include Mason Locke Weems (1759-1825), an American book agent, and author best known for his biography of George Washington, which popularized the story of Washington cutting down the cherry tree. Another notable bearer was Mason Brayman (1813-1895), an American lawyer and Union Army officer during the American Civil War.
In the 19th century, the name Mason became increasingly popular, particularly in the United States. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Mason Locke Weems (1759-1825), an American book agent and author best known for his biography of George Washington, which popularized the story of Washington cutting down the cherry tree.
Another notable figure was Mason Brayman (1813-1895), an American lawyer and Union Army officer during the American Civil War. He served as a major general and played a significant role in several key battles, including the Battle of Chickamauga.
In the 20th century, the name Mason gained further popularity, with several famous individuals bearing the name. Mason Williams (born 1938) is an American composer, musician, and comedian best known for his instrumental hit "Classical Gas." Mason Reese (born 1965) was a child actor and television personality who became famous for his appearances in commercials and TV shows in the 1970s.
Mason Proffit (1938-2021) was an American singer-songwriter and founding member of the folk rock band The Brothers and Sisters. Mason Jennings (born 1975) is a contemporary American singer-songwriter known for his introspective and poetic lyrics.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mason
People
Mason + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mason 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
Mason: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mason?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 331,695 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mason 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 1,033 US residents.
Is Mason a common name?
We classify Mason as "Common". It ranks above 99.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 339,506 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mason most popular?
The single biggest year for Mason was 2011, when 19,617 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mason is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mason in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 269,853 people with the name Mason, or 89.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #199 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 Mason 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 Mason?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mason leans strongly male. 266,724 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 3,128 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Mason?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mason is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.8%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Mason most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mason in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.3% (197,820 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 Mason in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mason a male name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Mason 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 Mason still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mason 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 Mason 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 Mason?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.