Prayer
Derived from the word "pray", signifying a plea or request made to a divine entity.
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the first name Prayer. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 87.3% of registrations being female. The average person named Prayer today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Prayer births was 2024 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Prayer. 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
109
~ 1 in 3,144,535 Americans
Peak year
2024
21 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,286
Tracked since 2000
Gender
Gender distribution for Prayer
Prayer leans heavily female at 87.3% of total registrations, but 14 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Prayer as a male name
- Ranked #9,632 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (8 births)
Prayer as a female name
- Ranked #8,286 in 2024
- 13 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (13 births)
Popularity
Prayer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Prayer from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 55 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
Prayer 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 Prayer 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 Prayer
The given name Prayer is a relatively modern English name that first came into use in the late 19th century. It is derived from the word "prayer," which itself comes from the Old French preiere, meaning "petition to God." The word ultimately traces its roots back to the Latin precaria, meaning "obtained by entreaty."
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Prayer can be found in the 1880 United States Census, where a young girl named Prayer was listed as living in Mississippi. In the early 20th century, the name gained some popularity among certain Christian communities, particularly those with a strong emphasis on prayer and religious devotion.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Prayer was Prayer Wister (1895-1976), an American author and lecturer who wrote extensively on spiritual topics and the power of prayer. Her works, such as "The Key to Spiritual Healing" and "The Silence That Heals," explored the role of prayer in personal growth and healing.
Another individual with the name Prayer was Prayer Dancer (1920-2007), a Native American activist and advocate for Indigenous rights. Born on the Navajo Nation reservation, she dedicated her life to preserving and promoting the cultural traditions and spiritual practices of her people, including their rich heritage of prayer and ceremony.
In the realm of literature, the name Prayer appeared in the works of Toni Morrison, the acclaimed African American novelist. In her novel "Paradise," published in 1998, one of the characters is named Prayer, symbolizing the themes of spirituality, redemption, and the power of faith that permeate the book.
A more contemporary figure with the name Prayer is Prayer Rider (born 1983), a Native American artist and activist from the Navajo Nation. Her work often explores themes of Indigenous identity, environmental justice, and the spiritual connections between humans and the natural world.
While the name Prayer remains relatively uncommon, it has been used throughout various communities and cultures, reflecting the universal human experience of seeking solace, guidance, and connection through prayer and spiritual practices.
People
Prayer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Prayer 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
Prayer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Prayer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Prayer 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 3,144,535 US residents.
Is Prayer a common name?
We classify Prayer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 110 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Prayer most popular?
The single biggest year for Prayer was 2024, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Prayer is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Prayer a female name?
Yes, 87.3% of people registered as Prayer 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.