Pike
A given masculine name meaning "pointed hill" or "marsh plant".
Name Census estimates that about 222 living Americans carry the first name Pike. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Pike today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pike births was 2014 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pike. 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
222
~ 1 in 1,543,938 Americans
Peak year
2014
17 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,143
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Pike: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pike from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 118 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Pike remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pike 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 Pike 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 Pike
The given name Pike likely originated from the Old English word "pic" or "pic-ian," which referred to a sharp point or ridge, such as a hill or mountain peak. It may have been used as a nickname or descriptive name for someone who lived near a prominent peak or ridgeline.
In the Middle Ages, Pike was sometimes used as a descriptive surname derived from the Old French word "pique," meaning a spear or lance. This suggests the name may have also been associated with weapons or military service during this period.
One of the earliest recorded uses of Pike as a given name dates back to the 13th century. A man named Pike de Ravenesholm was mentioned in historical records from Yorkshire, England in 1275.
During the Renaissance, the name Pike saw some popularity among the English gentry and nobility. Sir Walter Pike (1592-1671) was an English politician who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1649. Another notable figure was Zebulon Pike (1779-1813), an American explorer and army officer known for his expeditions into the western United States.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the name Pike continued to be used, though mostly within English-speaking countries. Some individuals of note include Albert Pike (1809-1891), an American author and prominent figure in Freemasonry, and James Pike (1913-1969), an Episcopal bishop and civil rights activist.
Other historically significant people named Pike include Henry Pike (1785-1864), an English composer and musician, and Adolphus Pike (1846-1917), an English cricketer who played for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club.
Throughout its history, the name Pike has maintained a connection to its origins, evoking images of peaks, points, and sharp objects. While not an extremely common name, it has been used consistently across various time periods and cultural contexts, particularly within the English-speaking world.
People
Pike + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pike 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
Pike: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pike?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 222 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pike 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 1,543,938 US residents.
Is Pike a common name?
We classify Pike as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 224 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pike most popular?
The single biggest year for Pike was 2014, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pike is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pike a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pike 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.