Moxie
A short, feisty word used as a feminine name meaning spirited determination.
Name Census estimates that about 669 living Americans carry the first name Moxie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Moxie today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Moxie births was 2021 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Moxie. 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
669
~ 1 in 512,338 Americans
Peak year
2021
57 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,160
Tracked since 2006
Census
Moxie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 513 people with the first name Moxie, which placed it at #20,216 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
#20,216
National first-name rank
People counted
513
513 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Moxie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moxie is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Two or More Races (8.8%). 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 Moxie 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 Moxie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.4% · 392
- Hispanic or Latino9.7% · 50
- Two or more races8.8% · 45
- Black or African American2.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 4
Popularity
Moxie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Moxie from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 381 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Moxie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Moxie 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 Moxie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Moxies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Colorado recorded the most babies named Moxie, while Indiana, Colorado, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Moxie
The name Moxie is believed to have originated from the Algonquian word "maɡkssιω" which means "dark water" or "invigorating drink". This word was later anglicized to "moxie" by English settlers in the Americas, particularly in the New England region.
The earliest recorded use of the name Moxie dates back to the late 19th century when it was used as a brand name for a carbonated beverage made from gentian root and other plant extracts. The Moxie soda was created in 1876 by Dr. Augustin Thompson and became popular in the United States, particularly in the northeastern states.
While the name Moxie initially gained popularity as a brand name for the soda, it eventually transitioned into a given name, particularly for boys. The name was often chosen to represent qualities such as courage, spirit, and determination, which were associated with the beverage's invigorating and energizing properties.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Moxie was Moxie Hibbard, an American professional baseball player who was born in 1874 and played for various teams in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Another notable person with the name was Moxie Rindge, an American heiress and environmentalist born in 1875, who fought to preserve the undeveloped coastal lands in California.
In the 20th century, the name Moxie gained further popularity, particularly in the United States. One notable individual was Moxie Perlmutter, an American actor and comedian born in 1901, who appeared in numerous Broadway plays and Hollywood films. Another was Moxie Brid, a Canadian artist and illustrator born in 1919, known for her whimsical and imaginative works.
Moxie Crimefighter Jesperson, born in 1941, was an American activist and advocate for victims of sexual assault, who founded organizations dedicated to supporting survivors and raising awareness about these crimes.
While the name Moxie has its origins in the Algonquian language and was initially associated with a popular beverage, it has evolved into a unique and distinctive given name, often chosen to represent qualities of strength, resilience, and determination.
People
Moxie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Moxie 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
Moxie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Moxie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 669 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Moxie 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 512,338 US residents.
Is Moxie a common name?
We classify Moxie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 674 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Moxie most popular?
The single biggest year for Moxie was 2021, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Moxie is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Moxie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 513 people with the name Moxie, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,216 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 Moxie 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 Moxie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Moxie leans strongly female. 480 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 34 male bearers (6.6%). 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 Moxie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Moxie is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (9.7%) and Two or More Races (8.8%). 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 Moxie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Moxie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.4% (392 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 Moxie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Moxie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Moxie 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 Moxie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Moxie 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 Moxie 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 Moxie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.