Vaughn
From a Welsh surname meaning small or diminutive.
Name Census estimates that about 16,259 living Americans carry the first name Vaughn. It is a predominantly male name (95.1% of registrations). The average person named Vaughn today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vaughn births was 1949 (385 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vaughn. 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 Vaughn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Vaughn is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,099 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
16K
~ 1 in 21,081 Americans
Peak year
1949
385 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,187
Tracked since 1881
Census
Vaughn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,854 people with the first name Vaughn, which placed it at #1,907 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
#1,907
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
14,854 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vaughn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vaughn is White at 66.4%. The next largest groups are Black (20.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Vaughn 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 Vaughn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.4% · 9,869
- Black or African American20.9% · 3,111
- Two or more races5.2% · 774
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 682
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 254
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 164
Gender
Gender distribution for Vaughn
Vaughn leans heavily male at 95.1% of total registrations, but 1,099 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vaughn as a male name
- Ranked #1,187 in 2024
- 174 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1949 (374 births)
Vaughn as a female name
- Ranked #7,546 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1931 (27 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vaughn leans strongly male. 14,142 people counted with this name were male (95.2%), compared with 713 female bearers (4.8%).
Popularity
Vaughn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vaughn from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 2,623 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Vaughn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vaughn 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 Vaughn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vaughns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the most babies named Vaughn, while Vermont, South Dakota, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 332 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vaughn
The given name Vaughn has its origins in the Welsh language and culture, stemming from the medieval period. It is derived from the Welsh word "bychan," meaning "small" or "little." The name was initially a nickname or descriptive term for someone of diminutive stature or a younger child.
Early records show variations in spelling, such as "Vaughan," "Vachan," and "Vychan," reflecting the evolution of the name over time. As a distinctly Welsh name, it was primarily found in regions like Wales and the bordering areas of England during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest notable references to the name can be found in the Welsh chronicles, where it appears as a personal name and a surname among the noble families of Wales. For instance, Sir Roger Vaughan was a Welsh military leader who fought alongside Owain Glyndŵr during the Welsh Revolt against the English in the early 15th century.
In the 16th century, the name gained wider recognition with figures like Sir Thomas Vaughan (1492-1536), a Welsh diplomat and courtier who served under King Henry VIII. Another prominent bearer was the philosopher and alchemist Thomas Vaughan (1621-1666), also known as Eugenius Philalethes, who wrote extensively on mysticism and occult subjects.
During the 17th century, the name crossed the Atlantic with Welsh settlers in colonial America. One notable example is William Vaughan (1621-1683), a Welsh merchant and co-founder of the colony of Rhode Island, who played a significant role in the establishment of religious freedom in the region.
In the literary realm, the name is associated with the acclaimed British poet and priest Henry Vaughan (1621-1695), known for his metaphysical and religious poems, such as "The World" and "The Retreat."
Moving into the 19th century, Vaughn Roderick Pryor (1826-1859) was a renowned American chess master and one of the strongest players of his time, contributing to the development of the game in the United States.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals who have carried the name Vaughn throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
People
Vaughn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vaughn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vaughn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vaughn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 16,259 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vaughn 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 21,081 US residents.
Is Vaughn a common name?
We classify Vaughn as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 22,279 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vaughn most popular?
The single biggest year for Vaughn was 1949, when 385 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vaughn is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vaughn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,854 people with the name Vaughn, or 4.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,907 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 Vaughn 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 Vaughn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vaughn leans strongly male. 14,142 people counted with this name were male (95.2%), compared with 713 female bearers (4.8%). 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 Vaughn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vaughn is White at 66.4%. The next largest groups are Black (20.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Vaughn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vaughn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.4% (9,869 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 Vaughn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vaughn a male name?
Yes, 95.1% of people registered as Vaughn 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 Vaughn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vaughn 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 Vaughn 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 Vaughn?
See how many Americans are named Vaughn on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.