Rexford
Old English name composed of "regen," meaning realm, and "ford," a ford or river crossing.
Name Census estimates that about 1,324 living Americans carry the first name Rexford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Rexford today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Rexford births was 1925 (53 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Rexford. 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 Rexford with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 258,878 Americans
Peak year
1925
53 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,187
Tracked since 1891
Census
Rexford in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,326 people with the first name Rexford, which placed it at #10,160 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
#10,160
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,326 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Rexford
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rexford is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Black (15.5%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Rexford 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 Rexford at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.8% · 1,019
- Black or African American15.5% · 206
- Two or more races3.2% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Rexford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Rexford from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 378 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
Rexford 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 Rexford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Rexfords live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Kentucky recorded the most babies named Rexford, while North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Rexford
The name Rexford has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the combination of two words: "rex," meaning "king," and "ford," referring to a shallow river crossing or a fordable part of a river. This name likely emerged during the Anglo-Saxon period in England, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Rexford can be traced back to the 12th century, when it appeared in various historical records and documents from that era. It is believed that the name gained popularity among the English nobility and aristocracy, possibly due to its association with royalty and the idea of a "king's ford" or a strategic river crossing under the king's control.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Rexford was Sir Rexford de Mowbray, a knight and landowner who lived in the late 12th century. He was documented as a participant in the Third Crusade, led by King Richard I of England, and was known for his bravery in battle.
In the 14th century, Rexford de Clifton, a prominent English landowner and member of the gentry, was mentioned in several legal documents and charters related to land ownership and disputes. His name and legacy were preserved in the historical records of the time.
During the Renaissance period, Rexford Walsingham, a diplomat and courtier in the service of Queen Elizabeth I, played a significant role in the Elizabethan era. He was noted for his skills in diplomacy and his involvement in the intelligence network that helped uncover and foil various plots against the queen.
In the 17th century, Rexford Cromwell, a distant relative of Oliver Cromwell, the Lord Protector of England, was a prominent figure in the English Civil War. He served as a colonel in the Parliamentarian forces and fought against the Royalists in several battles.
Another notable figure was Rexford Marlborough, a military commander and strategist during the War of the Spanish Succession in the early 18th century. He was celebrated for his victories against the French forces and his contributions to the expansion of the British Empire.
These are just a few examples of individuals bearing the name Rexford throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of the name's legacy.
People
Rexford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Rexford as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Rexford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Rexford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,324 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Rexford 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 258,878 US residents.
Is Rexford a common name?
We classify Rexford as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,625 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Rexford most popular?
The single biggest year for Rexford was 1925, when 53 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Rexford is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Rexford in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,326 people with the name Rexford, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,160 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 Rexford 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 Rexford?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Rexford appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,326 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Rexford?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Rexford is White at 76.8%. The next largest groups are Black (15.5%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Rexford most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Rexford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.8% (1,019 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 Rexford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Rexford a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Rexford 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.
Is Rexford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Rexford 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 Rexford 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 the name Rexford?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.