Thorpe
A village name derived from Old Norse meaning "outlying farmstead".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Thorpe. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Thorpe today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Thorpe births was 1971 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Thorpe. 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 Thorpe. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
1971
6 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1971 SSA rank
#4,868
Tracked since 1971
Popularity
Thorpe: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Thorpe 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 Thorpe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Thorpe
The given name Thorpe has its origins in Old Norse and Anglo-Saxon languages, tracing back to the 9th century or earlier. It is derived from the Old Norse word "þorp," which means a small village or hamlet. The name was initially used as a descriptive term for someone who lived in or came from a small settlement.
Historically, the name Thorpe appears in various ancient texts and records from England and other parts of the British Isles. It is often found in place names, such as Thorpe Satchville, Thorpe St. Andrew, and Thorpe-on-the-Hill, reflecting the name's connection to settlements and villages.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Thorpe can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a survey of landholdings in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. Several individuals with the name Thorpe were mentioned in this important historical record.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Thorpe. One such person was Thomas Thorpe, an English publisher and bookseller who lived from around 1570 to 1635. He is best known for publishing the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays, commonly referred to as the "First Folio," in 1623.
Another prominent figure with the name Thorpe was Sir Robert Thorpe, an English judge and politician who lived from around 1380 to 1445. He served as the Chief Justice of the King's Bench during the reign of Henry VI and played a significant role in the legal system of his time.
In the 19th century, Benjamin Thorpe (1782-1870) was a renowned English scholar and translator who made significant contributions to the study of Anglo-Saxon literature and language. He published translations of several important Old English works, including Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
William Thorpe (c. 1320-1407) was an English Protestant theologian and an early advocate of religious reform. He was tried for heresy by the Catholic Church but refused to recant his beliefs, becoming a influential figure in the Lollard movement.
Finally, Jim Thorpe (1887-1953), a Native American athlete, is widely regarded as one of the greatest athletes of all time. He won Olympic gold medals in both the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympic Games, and his remarkable achievements have earned him a place in sporting history.
People
Thorpe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Thorpe as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Thorpe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Thorpe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Thorpe 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Thorpe a common name?
We classify Thorpe as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Thorpe most popular?
The single biggest year for Thorpe was 1971, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Thorpe is about 60 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 Thorpe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Thorpe a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Thorpe 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 Thorpe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Thorpe 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 Thorpe 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 have the name Thorpe?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.