Prairie
A feminine name derived from the French word meaning "meadow or grassland".
Name Census estimates that about 453 living Americans carry the first name Prairie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Prairie today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Prairie births was 2024 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Prairie. 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
453
~ 1 in 756,632 Americans
Peak year
2024
32 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,434
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Prairie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Prairie from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 136 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
Prairie 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 Prairie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Prairies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Prairie
The name Prairie is an English word derived from the French prairie, meaning a meadow or grassland. It likely originated as a descriptive term for the vast stretches of flat, grassy plains found in parts of North America.
The first recorded use of Prairie as a given name dates back to the late 19th century, likely influenced by the romanticized perception of the American frontier and the natural beauty of the prairies. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Prairie Belle Dickson, born in 1873 in Texas, whose unique moniker reflected her parents' pioneer spirit.
In literature, Prairie appears in the 1935 novel "Prairie" by English author J.B. Priestley, which explores the theme of isolation and the human condition against the backdrop of the American Midwest. The name's association with the natural world and wide-open spaces has made it a popular choice for parents seeking an unconventional yet evocative name for their children.
Notable individuals named Prairie throughout history include Prairie Farmer (1908-1998), an American journalist and editor known for her work in the agricultural publishing industry. Prairie View A&M University, a historically black university in Texas, was established in 1876 and named after the surrounding Prairie View region.
Other notable Prairie namesakes include Prairie Rose Seminole (1849-1937), a respected elder and storyteller of the Seminole tribe in Florida, and Prairie Prince (1913-2003), a Canadian actress and singer who performed in vaudeville and on Broadway. More recently, Prairie Johnson (born 1990) is an American actress and singer known for her roles in television series such as "Atlanta" and "Raising Dion."
While the name Prairie remains relatively uncommon, its unique and descriptive quality has endured, evoking images of the vast open spaces and natural beauty of the American heartland.
People
Prairie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Prairie 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
Prairie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Prairie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 453 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Prairie 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 756,632 US residents.
Is Prairie a common name?
We classify Prairie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 465 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Prairie most popular?
The single biggest year for Prairie was 2024, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Prairie is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Prairie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Prairie 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.
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.