Standish
From Anglo-Saxon origin meaning "stony boundary or defensible place".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Standish. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Standish today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Standish births was 1919 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Standish. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Standish. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1919
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1919 SSA rank
#4,720
Tracked since 1919
Popularity
Standish: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Standish 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 Standish during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Standish
The name Standish is an English surname derived from the Old English words "stan" meaning stone and "dīc" meaning ditch or embankment. It was originally an occupational name for someone who lived near a stone ditch or wall.
In the 12th century, the name Standish appeared in records from Lancashire, England, where it was a place name referring to the town of Standish near Wigan. The earliest known bearer of the name was Thurstan de Standish, who was recorded in the Pipe Rolls of Lancashire in 1176.
The name Standish gained prominence in the 17th century with the exploits of Captain Myles Standish (c. 1584 - 1656), a military officer who accompanied the Pilgrims on the Mayflower and played a crucial role in the early days of the Plymouth Colony. He was known for his leadership and his defense of the colony against Native American attacks.
Another notable bearer of the name was Arthur Standish (1583 - 1655), an English Catholic priest and missionary who worked in Spain and Belgium. He was a member of the Society of Jesus and served as a spiritual director to prominent figures of his time.
In literature, the name Standish appears in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem "The Courtship of Miles Standish" (1858), which immortalized the tale of Myles Standish's ill-fated love for Priscilla Mullins, who married John Alden instead.
Other historical figures who bore the name Standish include Sir Richard Standish (1520 - 1570), an English soldier and member of Parliament during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and John Standish (c. 1765 - 1834), a British naval officer who served in the American Revolutionary War and the Napoleonic Wars.
While the name Standish is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of the rich tapestry of English nomenclature, carrying with it a legacy of military valor, religious devotion, and literary significance.
People
Standish + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Standish 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
Standish: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Standish?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Standish 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 - US residents.
Is Standish a common name?
We classify Standish as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Standish most popular?
The single biggest year for Standish was 1919, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Standish is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Standish in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Standish a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Standish 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 Standish still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Standish 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 Standish 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Standish?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.