Pleasant
Derived from the English word meaning delightful or pleasing.
Name Census estimates that about 92 living Americans carry the first name Pleasant. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Pleasant today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pleasant births was 1921 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pleasant. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Pleasant is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Pleasants were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Pleasant. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
92
~ 1 in 3,725,591 Americans
Peak year
1921
25 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1962 SSA rank
#4,483
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Pleasant
Pleasant leans heavily male at 89.6% of total registrations, but 73 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Pleasant as a male name
- Ranked #4,483 in 1962
- 5 male births in 1962
- Peak: 1924 (22 births)
Pleasant as a female name
- Ranked #16,065 in 2013
- 6 female births in 2013
- Peak: 1915 (7 births)
Popularity
Pleasant: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pleasant from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 181 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pleasant 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 Pleasant during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pleasants live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pleasant
Pleasant is an English given name derived from the Old French word "plaisant", meaning pleasing or agreeable. Its roots can be traced back to the Latin word "placere", which means "to please". The name first appeared in England during the Middle Ages, around the 13th century.
The name Pleasant gained popularity as a Christian name, reflecting the desire for children to possess a positive and agreeable nature. It was also used to express gratitude and appreciation for a child's birth. In some cases, the name was given as a wish or aspiration for the child to have a pleasant and amiable disposition.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pleasant is in the 16th century, when a Protestant martyr named Pleasant Prynnell was burned at the stake in Calais, France, in 1556. This event garnered attention and likely contributed to the name's use among English Protestants.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Pleasant. One example is Pleasant Rawlins (c. 1737-1825), an American Revolutionary War soldier and early settler in Kentucky. Another is Pleasant Armstrong Hunter (1784-1842), a member of the Virginia House of Delegates and a prominent lawyer in Virginia.
In literature, the name Pleasant appears in the works of English writer Thomas Hardy. One of his characters, Pleasant Dewy, is featured in the novel "Under the Greenwood Tree" (1872). This literary reference further popularized the name during the 19th century.
Other historical figures with the name Pleasant include Pleasant Harris Hoskin (1834-1902), an American politician and lawyer who served as a judge in Tennessee, and Pleasant Porter (1828-1897), a Union Army officer during the American Civil War.
While the name Pleasant was more common in earlier centuries, it has become relatively rare in modern times. However, its unique and positive connotation has ensured its continued use as a given name, reflecting the enduring desire for children to possess agreeable and pleasing qualities.
People
Pleasant + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pleasant 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
Pleasant: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pleasant?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 92 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pleasant 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 3,725,591 US residents.
Is Pleasant a common name?
We classify Pleasant as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 702 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pleasant most popular?
The single biggest year for Pleasant was 1921, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pleasant is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pleasant a male name?
Yes, 89.6% of people registered as Pleasant 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.