Mister
An honorific title used before a man's name or alone to address a man.
Name Census estimates that about 712 living Americans carry the first name Mister. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Mister today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mister births was 2015 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mister. 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.
People living today
712
~ 1 in 481,397 Americans
Peak year
2015
27 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,343
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Mister: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mister from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 196 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mister remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mister 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 Mister during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Misters live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Mister, while Florida, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mister
The name Mister is a relatively modern one, first emerging in the late 16th century as a form of address for men of a certain social standing. It derives from the Old English word "maister," which itself came from the Latin "magister," meaning "master" or "teacher." The word was originally used as a title of respect for those in positions of authority, such as clergymen, scholars, or skilled tradesmen.
In its earliest recorded usage, Mister was typically abbreviated as "Mr." and used before a man's surname, as in "Mr. Smith." Over time, it became a more general form of polite address for men, regardless of their profession or social status. It was seen as a less formal alternative to the more prestigious titles of "Sir" or "Lord."
While not strictly a given name itself, Mister has been used occasionally as a humorous or ironic first name throughout history. One of the earliest recorded examples dates back to the late 17th century, when a man named Mister Lemon was mentioned in parish records in England.
In the 18th century, a famous British satirist and playwright named Henry Fielding included a character named Mister Benjamin in his novel "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling." This fictional character's unusual first name was likely intended to poke fun at the emerging trend of using Mister as a form of address.
Another notable figure with the first name Mister was Mister T, the American actor and professional wrestler whose real name was Laurence Tureaud. Born in 1952, he became famous in the 1980s for his role in the television series "The A-Team" and his distinctive mohawk hairstyle.
In the world of literature, there was also a character named Mister Tulkinghorn in Charles Dickens' novel "Bleak House," published in 1853. This character, a sinister and manipulative lawyer, was likely named Mister as a commentary on the legal profession's tendency towards formality and detachment.
Finally, one cannot discuss the name Mister without mentioning the iconic children's book character Mister Rogers, whose full name was Fred McFeely Rogers. Born in 1928, Rogers was an American television personality who hosted the long-running children's show "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood," where he taught generations of children valuable lessons about kindness, empathy, and emotional intelligence.
People
Mister + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mister 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
Mister: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mister?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 712 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mister 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 481,397 US residents.
Is Mister a common name?
We classify Mister as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 729 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mister most popular?
The single biggest year for Mister was 2015, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mister is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mister a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mister 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.
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.