Vincent
A masculine name of Latin origin meaning "conquering" or "victor".
Name Census estimates that about 266,437 living Americans carry the first name Vincent. It sits at #111 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vincent today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vincent births was 1962 (6,188 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vincent. 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 Vincent with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Vincent is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,415 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
266K
~ 1 in 1,286 Americans
Peak year
1962
6,188 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#111
Tracked since 1880
Census
Vincent in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 237,080 people with the first name Vincent, which placed it at #241 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
#241
National first-name rank
People counted
237K
237,080 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
78.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vincent
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vincent is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.9%) and Black (12.4%). 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 Vincent 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 Vincent at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 145,330
- Hispanic or Latino14.9% · 35,247
- Black or African American12.4% · 29,412
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.5% · 17,884
- Two or more races3.2% · 7,562
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1,645
Gender
Gender distribution for Vincent
Out of the 361,416 babies given the name Vincent since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Vincent as a male name
- Ranked #111 in 2024
- 3,158 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1962 (6,161 births)
Vincent as a female name
- Ranked #9,484 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1966 (44 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vincent appears almost entirely male. Of the 237,080 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Vincent: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vincent 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 49,739 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Vincent remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vincent 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 Vincent during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vincents live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Vincent, while Vermont, Wyoming, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6,957 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vincent
The name Vincent has its origins in the Latin name Vincentius, which was derived from the Latin word "vincere" meaning "to conquer" or "to overcome". The name was initially popularized during the early days of Christianity in ancient Rome.
Vincentius was the name of several early Christian saints and martyrs, including Saint Vincent of Saragossa, who was martyred in the year 304 AD during the Diocletianic Persecution. His name became associated with endurance and steadfastness in the face of adversity.
Another notable figure from antiquity was Vincent of Lérins, a Gallic monk from the 5th century AD who authored the famous dictum known as the "Vincentian Canon", which served as a guiding principle for determining the authenticity of Christian doctrine.
In the Middle Ages, the name Vincent gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France, Spain, and Italy. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Vincent Ferrer, a celebrated Dominican friar and missionary who was born in Valencia, Spain, in 1350. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the Renaissance period, the name was borne by the renowned Italian painter Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), whose works, including "The Starry Night" and "Sunflowers", are among the most iconic and influential in the history of art.
Another noteworthy figure was Vincent Massey (1887-1967), a Canadian statesman and diplomat who served as the first Canadian-born Governor General of Canada from 1952 to 1959.
In literature, the name is associated with Vincent Vega, a memorable character portrayed by John Travolta in the 1994 cult classic film "Pulp Fiction" directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Throughout history, the name Vincent has maintained its association with strength, perseverance, and artistic expression, making it a enduring and respected choice for generations.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Vincent
People
Vincent + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vincent 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
Vincent: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vincent?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 266,437 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vincent 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 1,286 US residents.
Is Vincent a common name?
We classify Vincent as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 361,416 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vincent most popular?
The single biggest year for Vincent was 1962, when 6,188 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vincent is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vincent in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 237,080 people with the name Vincent, or 78.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #241 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 Vincent 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 Vincent?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vincent appears almost entirely male. Of the 237,080 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Vincent?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vincent is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.9%) and Black (12.4%). 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 Vincent most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vincent in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (145,330 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 Vincent in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vincent a male name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Vincent 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 Vincent still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vincent 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 Vincent 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 Vincent?
See how many people have the name Vincent on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.