Smokey
Associated with smoke, haze, or smoldering fire.
Name Census estimates that about 116 living Americans carry the first name Smokey. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Smokey today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Smokey births was 1977 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Smokey. 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
116
~ 1 in 2,954,779 Americans
Peak year
1977
11 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,724
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Smokey: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Smokey from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 51 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Smokey 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 Smokey 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 Smokey
The given name Smokey has its origins in English, derived from the word "smoke". It initially emerged as a nickname referring to someone who lived or worked in a smoky environment, such as a blacksmith or a chimney sweep.
In the early 19th century, the name gained popularity as a moniker for firefighters, who were often covered in soot and smoke from battling blazes. It was also used as a nickname for individuals with a deep, husky voice that sounded "smoky".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Smokey dates back to the late 18th century, when a character named Smokey Joe appeared in a British play titled "The Smokey Chimney Sweeper" in 1792.
Historically, a few notable individuals have borne the name Smokey. One of the most famous was Smokey Joe Williams (1889-1946), an American blues singer and songwriter who was a pioneer of the Chicago blues style. Another was Smokey Robinson (born 1940), an American singer-songwriter and record producer who was the founder and frontman of the Motown vocal group The Miracles.
In the realm of literature, Smokey Mosbey was a character in the novel "The Human Comedy" by William Saroyan, published in 1943. The fictional Smokey was a young telegraph messenger during World War II.
In the world of sports, Smokey Burgess (1927-2023) was an American professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues from 1949 to 1967, primarily for the Cincinnati Reds.
Smokey Yunick (1923-2001) was an influential American racing mechanic and car designer, known for his innovative and unconventional approaches to building and tuning race cars.
While the name Smokey may have originated as a nickname, it has become an accepted given name in its own right, with a rich history and associations with various professions and personalities over the centuries.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Smokey
People
Smokey + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Smokey as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Smokey: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Smokey?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 116 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Smokey 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 2,954,779 US residents.
Is Smokey a common name?
We classify Smokey as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 131 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Smokey most popular?
The single biggest year for Smokey was 1977, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Smokey is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Smokey a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Smokey 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.