Truman
A masculine name of English origin meaning "loyal one" or "faithful".
Name Census estimates that about 8,463 living Americans carry the first name Truman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Truman today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Truman births was 1945 (540 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Truman. 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 Truman with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
8.5K
~ 1 in 40,500 Americans
Peak year
1945
540 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,811
Tracked since 1880
Census
Truman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,703 people with the first name Truman, which placed it at #2,933 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
#2,933
National first-name rank
People counted
7.7K
7,703 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Truman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Truman is White at 79.5%. The next largest groups are Black (6.6%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Truman 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 Truman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.5% · 6,121
- Black or African American6.6% · 511
- Two or more races5.0% · 383
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 274
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 258
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 156
Gender
Gender distribution for Truman
Out of the 15,861 babies given the name Truman since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Truman as a male name
- Ranked #1,811 in 2024
- 90 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1945 (540 births)
Truman as a female name
- Ranked #5,702 in 1925
- 5 female births in 1925
- Peak: 1921 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Truman appears almost entirely male. Of the 7,702 people counted with this name, 99.5% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Truman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Truman from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,350 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
Truman 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 Truman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Trumans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, Missouri, California recorded the most babies named Truman, while North Dakota, Massachusetts, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 269 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Truman
The name Truman has its roots in the Middle English word "trewe," meaning faithful or true. It likely originated as a surname during the medieval period, describing someone who was considered trustworthy or loyal. The name eventually transitioned into being used as a given name in the English-speaking world.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Truman can be found in the 17th century, with the birth of Truman Seymour in 1634 in Hartford, Connecticut. Seymour was a prominent figure in the early colonial era of New England, serving as a magistrate and deputy governor of the Connecticut Colony.
In the 18th century, Truman Osborn (1752-1828) was an American Revolutionary War soldier who fought in several significant battles, including the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Battle of Saratoga. He later became a prominent businessman and landowner in Wilbraham, Massachusetts.
The 19th century brought us Truman Smith (1809-1890), a prominent American businessman and politician who served as a United States Representative from Connecticut. He was also involved in the early development of the railroad industry in New England.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Truman was the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S. Truman (1884-1972). Born in Missouri, Truman served as President from 1945 to 1953, leading the nation through the final stages of World War II and the early years of the Cold War.
Another notable figure was Truman Capote (1924-1984), an American novelist and playwright best known for his works such as "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "In Cold Blood." Capote was a significant literary figure in the 20th century and is widely regarded as one of the most influential writers of his time.
People
Truman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Truman 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
Truman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Truman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,463 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Truman 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 40,500 US residents.
Is Truman a common name?
We classify Truman as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,861 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Truman most popular?
The single biggest year for Truman was 1945, when 540 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Truman is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Truman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,703 people with the name Truman, or 2.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,933 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 Truman 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 Truman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Truman appears almost entirely male. Of the 7,702 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Truman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Truman is White at 79.5%. The next largest groups are Black (6.6%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Truman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Truman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.5% (6,121 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 Truman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Truman a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Truman 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 Truman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Truman 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 Truman 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 Truman as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Truman on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.