Oxford
A place name derived from an Old English phrase meaning "ford for oxen".
Name Census estimates that about 102 living Americans carry the first name Oxford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Oxford today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Oxford births was 2020 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Oxford. 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
102
~ 1 in 3,360,337 Americans
Peak year
2020
14 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,614
Tracked since 2013
Popularity
Oxford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Oxford from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 55 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Oxford 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 Oxford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Oxford
The name Oxford is an English place name derived from the words "Oxen" and "Ford". It originated as the name of the city of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England, where Oxford University is located. The city's name is thought to have been first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle around the year 912 CE, referring to an oxen crossing point across the River Thames.
Oxford as a given name likely emerged in the Middle Ages, possibly inspired by the growing prominence of the University of Oxford, which was established in the late 11th or early 12th century. The name may have been adopted by students or scholars associated with the university, or by families living in or near the city of Oxford.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the first name Oxford was Oxford de Vere, who lived in the 13th century and was a member of the influential de Vere family in England. Another notable bearer of the name was Oxford William Comyn, a Scottish nobleman who lived in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
During the Renaissance period, the name Oxford gained popularity among English families, possibly due to the university's reputation as a center of learning and intellectual pursuits. One famous Oxford from this time was Oxford Cary, an English nobleman and politician who lived from 1520 to 1588.
In the 17th century, Oxford Bradshaw was a prominent English judge and lawyer who served as Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer from 1658 to 1659. Another noteworthy Oxford was Oxford Woodbridge, a Puritan minister and educator who lived from 1609 to 1675 and served as the first president of Harvard College in Massachusetts.
In more recent centuries, the name Oxford has continued to be used, although less frequently than in earlier times. One example is Oxford Edward Danby, an English painter who lived from 1768 to 1838 and is known for his landscape and maritime paintings.
While Oxford is primarily an English name, it has been adopted and used in other English-speaking countries as well, reflecting the global influence of the prestigious University of Oxford and the cultural significance of the city's name.
People
Oxford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Oxford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Oxford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Oxford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Oxford 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 3,360,337 US residents.
Is Oxford a common name?
We classify Oxford as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Oxford most popular?
The single biggest year for Oxford was 2020, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Oxford is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Oxford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Oxford 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.