Urban
Derived from Latin, meaning "belonging to the city".
Name Census estimates that about 1,124 living Americans carry the first name Urban. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Urban today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Urban births was 1924 (104 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Urban. 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 Urban with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 304,942 Americans
Peak year
1924
104 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,854
Tracked since 1880
Census
Urban in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,201 people with the first name Urban, which placed it at #10,897 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
#10,897
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,201 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Urban
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Urban is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.3%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Urban 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 Urban at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.7% · 837
- Hispanic or Latino12.3% · 148
- Black or African American11.4% · 137
- Two or more races4.0% · 48
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 9
Popularity
Urban: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Urban 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 783 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
Urban 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 Urban during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Urbans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. Ohio, Minnesota, Indiana recorded the most babies named Urban, while Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Urban
The name Urban has its origins in the Latin language and culture, emerging during the Roman Empire era. It is derived from the Latin word "urbanus," which translates to "of or belonging to the city." This name likely gained prominence as cities and urban centers flourished across the Roman Empire.
In ancient Rome, the name Urban may have been associated with individuals residing in cities or those with a sophisticated and refined manner, as "urbanus" also carried connotations of being cultured and polished. It is possible that the name was initially bestowed upon those from the upper echelons of Roman society who embraced the urbanized lifestyle.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Urban can be found in Christian religious texts, specifically in reference to Pope Urban I, who served as the Bishop of Rome from 222 to 230 AD. This association with a prominent figure in early Christianity may have contributed to the name's endurance and spread across Europe.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Urban maintained a consistent presence, particularly in regions influenced by Latin and Christian traditions. Notable historical figures bearing this name include Urban II (1042-1099), a French Pope who launched the First Crusade in 1095, and Urban V (1310-1370), a Pope born in France who played a significant role in the return of the Papacy from Avignon to Rome.
In the Renaissance period, the name Urban found favor among the intellectual and artistic circles of Italy. One prominent individual was Urban VIII (1568-1644), a Pope who reigned during the Baroque era and was known for his patronage of the arts, commissioning works from artists like Gian Lorenzo Bernini.
Moving into the modern era, the name Urban has been borne by several influential figures, such as Urban Jürgensen (1776-1830), a renowned Danish watchmaker whose timepieces were highly sought after, and Urban Shocker (1890-1964), an American baseball pitcher who played for the St. Louis Browns and the New York Yankees in the early 20th century.
While less common in contemporary times, the name Urban still carries a sense of sophistication and cultural refinement, reflecting its Latin roots and historical associations with urban centers and intellectual pursuits.
People
Urban + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Urban as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Urban: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Urban?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,124 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Urban 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 304,942 US residents.
Is Urban a common name?
We classify Urban as "Rare". It ranks above 90.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,246 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Urban most popular?
The single biggest year for Urban was 1924, when 104 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Urban 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 Urban in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,201 people with the name Urban, or 0.40 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,897 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 Urban 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 Urban?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Urban leans strongly male. 1,190 people counted with this name were male (98.6%), compared with 17 female bearers (1.4%). 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 Urban?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Urban is White at 69.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.3%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Urban most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Urban in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.7% (837 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 Urban in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Urban a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Urban 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 Urban still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Urban 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 Urban 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 Americans are named Urban?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.