Usher
A name derived from an occupational term meaning "doorman" or "attendant".
Name Census estimates that about 1,183 living Americans carry the first name Usher. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Usher today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Usher births was 2024 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Usher. 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 Usher with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Usher is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 289,733 Americans
Peak year
2024
61 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,332
Tracked since 1914
Census
Usher in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 878 people with the first name Usher, which placed it at #13,660 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
#13,660
National first-name rank
People counted
878
878 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Usher
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Usher is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Usher 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 Usher at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.5% · 716
- Black or African American8.9% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 28
- Two or more races0.8% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Usher: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Usher from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 421 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Usher remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Usher 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 Usher during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ushers live
Origin
Meaning and history of Usher
The name Usher has its origins in the Old French word "ussier" or "huissier," which was derived from the Latin "ostiarius," meaning "doorkeeper" or "porter." This connection to the occupation of guarding doors or entrances is believed to be the primary source of the name's meaning.
In the Middle Ages, ushers held important positions in royal courts and noble households, responsible for introducing guests, maintaining order during ceremonies, and ensuring the smooth flow of events. The name gained prominence during this period, closely associated with these esteemed roles.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Usher can be found in the 13th century, when a man named Usher de Boisfeuillet was mentioned in French records from 1263. This suggests that the name was in use as a given name by that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Usher. One of the most famous was Usher, Archbishop of York, who lived from 1170 to 1195 and played a significant role in the political and ecclesiastical affairs of England during the reigns of Henry II and Richard I.
Another prominent figure was Usher Gahagan (1555-1627), an Irish Catholic priest and author who wrote several works on Church history and theology. His name was sometimes spelled as "Ussher" or "Uscher."
In the field of literature, Usher Burdett (1670-1744) was an English playwright and poet, best known for his play "The Conspiracy," which was performed at the Theatre Royal in 1697.
Usher Parsons (1788-1868) was an American physician and surgeon who served as a professor at Brown University and made significant contributions to the field of medicine.
Usher L. Burdick (1879-1960) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 29th Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota from 1935 to 1937.
These examples illustrate the diverse array of individuals who have carried the name Usher throughout history, spanning various professions, nationalities, and time periods. While the name's popularity has fluctuated over the centuries, its origins and connections to the role of a doorkeeper or usher have endured, providing a fascinating glimpse into the rich historical tapestry woven by this distinctive name.
People
Usher + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Usher 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
Usher: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Usher?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,183 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Usher 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 289,733 US residents.
Is Usher a common name?
We classify Usher as "Rare". It ranks above 91.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,225 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Usher most popular?
The single biggest year for Usher was 2024, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Usher is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Usher in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 878 people with the name Usher, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,660 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 Usher 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 Usher?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Usher leans strongly male. 862 people counted with this name were male (98.0%), compared with 18 female bearers (2.0%). 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 Usher?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Usher is White at 81.5%. The next largest groups are Black (8.9%) and Hispanic (5.4%). 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 Usher most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Usher in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.5% (716 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 Usher in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Usher a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Usher 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 Usher still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Usher 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 Usher 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 the name Usher?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Usher, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.