Pierson
A masculine name derived from French meaning "rock" or "stone".
Name Census estimates that about 3,374 living Americans carry the first name Pierson. It is a predominantly male name (97.3% of registrations). The average person named Pierson today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pierson births was 2020 (178 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pierson. 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 Pierson with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Pierson is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 95 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Pierson is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 101,587 Americans
Peak year
2020
178 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,458
Tracked since 1912
Census
Pierson in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,644 people with the first name Pierson, which placed it at #6,141 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
#6,141
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,644 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
74.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pierson
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pierson is White at 74.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.4%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Pierson 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 Pierson at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White74.9% · 1,980
- Two or more races7.4% · 195
- Black or African American6.7% · 177
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 164
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 97
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 31
Gender
Gender distribution for Pierson
Pierson leans heavily male at 97.3% of total registrations, but 95 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Pierson as a male name
- Ranked #1,458 in 2024
- 124 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (172 births)
Pierson as a female name
- Ranked #10,055 in 2024
- 10 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pierson leans strongly male. 2,528 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 111 female bearers (4.2%).
Popularity
Pierson: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pierson from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,377 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Pierson remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pierson 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 Pierson during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Piersons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Pierson, while Washington, Utah, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 69 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pierson
The name Pierson is an English given name derived from the Old French name Pierre, which in turn originated from the Greek name Petros, meaning "rock" or "stone". The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions with French cultural influence.
The earliest recorded use of the name Pierson can be traced back to the 12th century in England, where it was a common variant spelling of the name Peter. It was often used as a distinguishing name for those with the more common name Peter, indicating their family's occupation or place of origin.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Pierson was Pierson of Cambridge, an English prelate who served as the Bishop of Bath and Wells from 1274 to 1292. He played a significant role in the ecclesiastical affairs of the time and was known for his support of the Franciscan order.
In the 16th century, the name Pierson gained prominence through the work of Pierson Edrisius, a Dutch cartographer and mathematician who published influential maps of the world and was considered one of the leading cartographers of his time. He lived from 1519 to 1599 and contributed significantly to the advancement of cartography during the Renaissance.
During the 17th century, the name Pierson was associated with several notable figures in the American colonies. Pierson Parkhurst, born in 1637, was one of the founders of Newark, New Jersey, and played a crucial role in the early settlement and development of the colony.
Another prominent figure was Abraham Pierson, born in 1608, who was the first president of Yale College (now Yale University). He was instrumental in establishing the institution and shaping its early curriculum and principles.
In the 18th century, Pierson Payn, born in 1718, was a British naval officer who served with distinction during the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. He rose through the ranks and made significant contributions to the Royal Navy's operations during these conflicts.
The name Pierson has maintained its presence throughout history, with various individuals bearing the name contributing to various fields, including academia, religion, politics, and the arts. While its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages, the name has endured and continues to be used in modern times, carrying a rich cultural heritage.
People
Pierson + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pierson as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pierson: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pierson?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,374 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pierson 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 101,587 US residents.
Is Pierson a common name?
We classify Pierson as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,494 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pierson most popular?
The single biggest year for Pierson was 2020, when 178 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pierson is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pierson in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,644 people with the name Pierson, or 0.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,141 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 Pierson 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 Pierson?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pierson leans strongly male. 2,528 people counted with this name were male (95.8%), compared with 111 female bearers (4.2%). 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 Pierson?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pierson is White at 74.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.4%) and Black (6.7%). 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 Pierson most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pierson in the 2020 Census, accounting for 74.9% (1,980 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 Pierson in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pierson a male name?
Yes, 97.3% of people registered as Pierson 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 Pierson still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pierson 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 Pierson 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 Pierson?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.