Metro
A given name derived from the French word for subway.
Name Census estimates that about 46 living Americans carry the first name Metro. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Metro today is around 83 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Metro births was 1919 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Metro. 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 Metro is about 83 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Metros were born before 1953.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Metro. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
46
~ 1 in 7,451,181 Americans
Peak year
1919
48 babies that year
Average age
83
years old
1958 SSA rank
#3,797
Tracked since 1908
Census
Metro in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 128 people with the first name Metro, which placed it at #49,019 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
#49,019
National first-name rank
People counted
128
128 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Metro
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Metro is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Black (15.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Metro 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 Metro at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.8% · 97
- Black or African American15.6% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 10
- Two or more races0.8% · 1
Popularity
Metro: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Metro from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 249 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Metro 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 Metro during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Metros live
Origin
Meaning and history of Metro
The name Metro is derived from the Greek word "metron," which means "measure" or "boundary." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was used as a term for a unit of measurement or a standard of reference.
In the early days, the name Metro was associated with the concept of measurement and proportion, often used in the context of architecture, geometry, and mathematics. It was a name that held significance in the realm of scholarship and intellectual pursuits.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Metro can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who lived from 428 BC to 348 BC. In his dialogues, Plato discusses the concept of measure and moderation, which could be linked to the name Metro.
During the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century, the name Metro gained popularity among scholars and intellectuals who valued the ideals of balance and reason. However, it remained a relatively uncommon name during this period.
In the Renaissance period, the name Metro saw a resurgence as the study of classical Greek and Roman culture flourished. One notable figure with this name was Metro Kyritsis (1810-1892), a Greek scholar and writer who contributed significantly to the revival of Greek literature.
As time progressed, the name Metro found its way into various cultures and languages. In the 19th century, there was a Metro Dimitri (1825-1908), a Russian artist and painter who was celebrated for his landscapes and portraits.
In the 20th century, the name Metro gained some recognition in the literary world with the American author Metro Kouridon (1920-1998), who wrote several novels and short stories exploring themes of identity and cultural assimilation.
Another notable figure was Metro Antonovich (1935-2010), a Serbian mathematician and university professor who made significant contributions to the field of combinatorics and graph theory.
While the name Metro has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds, each contributing to their respective fields and leaving a lasting impact on the intellectual and cultural landscapes.
People
Metro + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Metro 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
Metro: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Metro?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 46 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Metro 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 7,451,181 US residents.
Is Metro a common name?
We classify Metro as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 522 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Metro most popular?
The single biggest year for Metro was 1919, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Metro is about 83 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Metro in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 128 people with the name Metro, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,019 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 Metro 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 Metro?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Metro leans strongly male. 122 people counted with this name were male (96.1%), compared with 5 female bearers (3.9%). 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 Metro?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Metro is White at 75.8%. The next largest groups are Black (15.6%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Metro most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Metro in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.8% (97 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 Metro in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Metro a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Metro 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 Metro still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Metro 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 Metro 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 common is the name Metro?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Metro at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.