Posey
A diminutive form of the name Josephine, meaning "She will add".
Name Census estimates that about 598 living Americans carry the first name Posey. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Posey today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Posey births was 2022 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Posey. 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 Posey with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Posey started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
598
~ 1 in 573,168 Americans
Peak year
2022
54 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
1956 SSA rank
#3,140
Tracked since 1888
Census
Posey in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 469 people with the first name Posey, which placed it at #21,580 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
#21,580
National first-name rank
People counted
469
469 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Posey
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Posey is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Posey 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 Posey at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.0% · 361
- Black or African American10.2% · 48
- Two or more races5.5% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Posey
Posey is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 946 total registrations, 396 (41.9%) were male and 550 (58.1%) were female.
Posey as a male name
- Ranked #3,140 in 1956
- 8 male births in 1956
- Peak: 1916 (17 births)
Posey as a female name
- Ranked #3,549 in 2024
- 44 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (54 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Posey on both sides of the split. Of the 462 people counted with this name, 106 were male (22.9%) and 356 were female (77.1%).
Popularity
Posey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Posey from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 265 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
Posey 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 Posey during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Poseys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Virginia, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Posey, while Washington, Indiana, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Posey
The name Posey is thought to have originated from the Old French word "posie," meaning a short verse or motto. This term was derived from the Latin word "poesis," which means poetry or poetic composition. The name was initially used as a descriptive term for someone skilled in composing or reciting poetry.
In the Middle Ages, the name Posey gained popularity among the nobility and elite classes in Europe, particularly in England and France. It was often associated with individuals who had a penchant for literature, arts, and cultural pursuits. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 13th century, when it was found in various literary works and historical records.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Posey was William Posey, an English poet and scholar who lived in the 14th century. He is known for his contributions to the development of early English literature and his involvement in the literary circles of his time.
In the 16th century, the name Posey gained further recognition with the birth of John Posey, an English composer and musician. He was renowned for his compositions for the lute and his contributions to the development of English Renaissance music.
Another prominent figure associated with the name Posey was Thomas Posey, an American politician and military officer who lived from 1750 to 1818. He served as the Governor of the Indiana Territory and played a significant role in the early development of the American Midwest.
During the 19th century, the name Posey was borne by several notable individuals, including Mary Posey, an American educator and women's rights advocate (1809-1894), and John Posey, a Confederate general during the American Civil War (1825-1863).
In more recent times, the name Posey has been carried by individuals such as Parker Posey, an American actress known for her roles in independent films (born in 1968), and Buster Posey, a professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants (born in 1987).
While the name Posey has its roots in Old French and Latin, it has transcended its linguistic origins and gained a unique cultural significance throughout history, associated with individuals from diverse backgrounds who have made notable contributions in various fields, including literature, music, politics, and the arts.
People
Posey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Posey 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
Posey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Posey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 598 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Posey 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 573,168 US residents.
Is Posey a common name?
We classify Posey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 946 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Posey most popular?
The single biggest year for Posey was 2022, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Posey is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Posey in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 469 people with the name Posey, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,580 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 Posey 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 Posey?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Posey on both sides of the split. Of the 462 people counted with this name, 106 were male (22.9%) and 356 were female (77.1%). 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 Posey?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Posey is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (10.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Posey most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Posey in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.0% (361 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 Posey in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Posey a female name?
Yes, 58.1% of people registered as Posey 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 Posey still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Posey 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 Posey 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 common is the name Posey?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.