Pinky
A diminutive name referring to a pinkish color or affectionate term.
Name Census estimates that about 163 living Americans carry the first name Pinky. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pinky today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pinky births was 1951 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pinky. 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
163
~ 1 in 2,102,787 Americans
Peak year
1951
14 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1992 SSA rank
#9,293
Tracked since 1883
Census
Pinky in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,261 people with the first name Pinky, which placed it at #10,526 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
#10,526
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,261 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
61.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pinky
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pinky is Asian/Pacific Islander at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.5%) and White (11.9%). 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 Pinky 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 Pinky at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander61.2% · 772
- Black or African American20.5% · 259
- White11.9% · 150
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 47
- Two or more races2.0% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 8
Popularity
Pinky: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pinky from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 76 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pinky 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 Pinky 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 Pinky
The name Pinky is believed to have originated as a nickname or diminutive form of the name Pinkney, which itself is derived from the Old English word "pinc" meaning "small, little one." The name Pinkney was initially used as a surname, but over time, it evolved into a given name as well.
The earliest recorded use of the name Pinky as a given name dates back to the late 19th century in the United States. It is possible that the name gained popularity as a shortened form of Pinkney, which was a relatively common surname among African Americans during that time.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Pinky was Pinky Swayer, an American vaudeville performer and comedian who was active in the early 20th century. Swayer was known for her comedic routines and performances in various vaudeville shows.
Another notable figure named Pinky was Pinky Lee, an American comedian, singer, and actor born in 1936. Lee was best known for his children's television show, "The Pinky Lee Show," which aired on NBC from 1954 to 1957. He was also a regular performer on the popular variety show "The Ed Sullivan Show."
In the world of sports, Pinky Whitney was an American football player who played for the University of Michigan in the early 1900s. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1971.
Pinky Higgins was an American baseball player and manager who played for the Boston Red Sox and managed the team from 1959 to 1962. He was born in 1909 and passed away in 1969.
Pinky Tomlin was an American singer and songwriter who was popular during the 1930s and 1940s. He is best known for his hit song "The Object of My Affection," which was released in 1934.
While the name Pinky may have started as a nickname or diminutive form, it has since become a standalone given name in its own right, particularly in the United States. The name has been used for individuals of various ethnic backgrounds and has transcended its original meaning as a "small, little one."
People
Pinky + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pinky 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
Pinky: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pinky?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 163 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pinky 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 2,102,787 US residents.
Is Pinky a common name?
We classify Pinky as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 370 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pinky most popular?
The single biggest year for Pinky was 1951, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pinky is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pinky in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,261 people with the name Pinky, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,526 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 Pinky 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 Pinky?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pinky leans strongly female. 1,200 people counted with this name were female (95.5%), compared with 57 male bearers (4.5%). 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 Pinky?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pinky is Asian/Pacific Islander at 61.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.5%) and White (11.9%). 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 Pinky most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Pinky in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.2% (772 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 Pinky in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pinky a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pinky 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 Pinky still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pinky 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 Pinky 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 have Pinky as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Pinky on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.