Spike
A diminutive form of the name "Ralph", derived from Old English names.
Name Census estimates that about 110 living Americans carry the first name Spike. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Spike today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Spike births was 1958 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Spike. 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 Spike with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
110
~ 1 in 3,115,949 Americans
Peak year
1958
10 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,808
Tracked since 1942
Census
Spike in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 329 people with the first name Spike, which placed it at #27,678 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
#27,678
National first-name rank
People counted
329
329 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Spike
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Spike is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Spike 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 Spike at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.9% · 243
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 24
- Black or African American6.4% · 21
- Two or more races5.5% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 10
Popularity
Spike: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Spike from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 38 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Spike 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 Spike 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 Spike
The name Spike has its origins in the Old English word "spic," which means a pointed object or nail. This term was later adopted into Middle English as "spiker," referring to a maker of nails or spikes. It was during this period, around the 13th century, that the name began to emerge as a nickname or descriptive name for someone associated with this trade or profession.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Spike can be found in the Bury St Edmunds Chronicle from the 12th century, where a man named Spike is mentioned. However, it is unclear whether this was his given name or a nickname based on his occupation.
In the 14th century, the name Spike appeared in various historical records, such as the Pipe Rolls of 1332, where a man named Spike de Steynesby is listed. This suggests that the name had gained some popularity and was being used as a given name by this time.
During the Renaissance period, the name Spike continued to be used, although it remained relatively uncommon. One notable bearer of the name was Spike Holden (c. 1585-1659), an English landowner and member of Parliament from Sussex.
In the 18th century, the name Spike gained further recognition with the birth of Spike Milligan (1918-2002), an influential British comedian, writer, and actor. Milligan's unique and comedic persona helped to popularize the name and solidify its place in popular culture.
Another famous bearer of the name was Spike Lee (born 1957), an acclaimed American filmmaker, actor, and producer known for his thought-provoking and socially conscious works. Lee's impact on the film industry has helped to further spread the name's recognition.
Other notable individuals named Spike throughout history include Spike Jonze (born 1969), an American filmmaker and actor; Spike Feresten (born 1964), an American writer and television personality; and Spike Dykes (1938-2017), a former American football coach at Texas Tech University.
While the name Spike may have originated from humble beginnings, its unique and distinctive character has allowed it to endure and gain recognition across various cultures and time periods, making it a notable and memorable name in history.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Spike
People
Spike + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Spike 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
Spike: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Spike?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 110 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Spike 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 3,115,949 US residents.
Is Spike a common name?
We classify Spike as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 128 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Spike most popular?
The single biggest year for Spike was 1958, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Spike is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Spike in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 329 people with the name Spike, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,678 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 Spike 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 Spike?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Spike leans strongly male. 307 people counted with this name were male (93.0%), compared with 23 female bearers (7.0%). 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 Spike?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Spike is White at 73.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.3%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Spike most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Spike in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.9% (243 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 Spike in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Spike a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Spike 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 Spike still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Spike 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 Spike 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 are called Spike?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.