George
- Pronunciation
- [George]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Farmer
- Origin
- Romanian
About the Name George
George descends through Late Latin Georgius from the Greek Geōrgios, derived from geōrgos (farmer, earthworker) — composed of gē (earth) and ergon (work). The name's overwhelming Christian anchor is Saint George (3rd century, traditionally said to have been a Roman soldier in the army of Diocletian who refused to recant his Christian faith). The legendary slaying-the-dragon narrative attached to Saint George — added several centuries after his death — became one of the most-painted subjects in medieval and Renaissance European art, and George became the patron saint of England, Georgia (the country), Catalonia, Portugal, and several Eastern European nations.
The name has been continuously used across European Christian-influenced naming traditions for over a millennium. The English-language anchor is the long line of British kings: George I, II, III, IV, V, VI — the Hanoverian and Windsor royal dynasty that has occupied the British throne nearly continuously since 1714. King George III lost the American colonies; King George VI shepherded Britain through World War II; and the current Prince George of Wales is Prince William's eldest son and heir. American Georges include first president George Washington (1732–1799), comedian George Burns, jazz pianist George Gershwin, and presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
George held a US top-25 boys' rank from 1880 through 1956 — over seven decades of top-tier American popularity. After a long quiet period, the name has begun climbing again in the 2010s, reaching the US top 100 by 2018 — partly through the broader vintage-revival wave alongside Theodore and Henry. The appeal is its dignified breadth: royal pedigree, religiously anchored, two firm syllables, and pan-European recognition. Common nicknames Georgie, Geo, and the rare GeeGee each carry distinct registers; international forms include Jorge (Spanish/Portuguese), Giorgio (Italian), Georges (French), Georg (German/Scandinavian), György (Hungarian), and Yuri (Russian).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About George
US Popularity History (1880–2025)
Annual US births named George by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1921 with 27,476 boys named George (boy rank #6 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #126 for boys (2,848 US births). That's 120 places below its 1921 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is George Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For George the strongest states are District of Columbia, Massachusetts, Vermont.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | #27 | 264 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | #73 | 848 |
| 3 | Vermont | #88 | 49 |
| 4 | Minnesota | #91 | 664 |
| 5 | Connecticut | #91 | 375 |
| 6 | New Hampshire | #92 | 151 |
| 7 | Illinois | #96 | 1,254 |
| 8 | New York | #102 | 1,809 |
| 9 | Virginia | #104 | 859 |
| 10 | Alaska | #106 | 86 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Mexico | #237 | 77 |
| 2 | Nevada | #219 | 148 |
| 3 | West Virginia | #217 | 61 |
| 4 | Arizona | #204 | 390 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | #196 | 240 |
| 6 | Arkansas | #181 | 191 |
| 7 | Mississippi | #178 | 176 |
| 8 | Texas | #170 | 2,158 |
| 9 | Delaware | #170 | 57 |
| 10 | Florida | #167 | 1,205 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for George in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
Famous People Named George
12 notable figures from history and culture who share the name George.
- George A. Smith was one of the leaders of the Latter Day Saint movement.
- George Alagiah is a famous British journalist who presents the ‘GMT with George Alagiah’ news show for ‘BBC World’.
- George Berkeley was a philosopher, primarily known for his empiricist and idealistic philosophy.
- George Best — Soccer Player (1946)
- George Blanda was an American football quarterback known as ‘The Grand Old Man’ for his unbelievably long career.
- George Boole is better known as the inventor of symbolic logic.
- George Burns — TV Actor (1896)
- George C. Scott was an illustrious American actor, producer and director.
- George Cadbury was the son of John Cadbury, the founder of Cadbury's cocoa and chocolate company.
- George Canning was a renowned British politician who also served as the Prime Minister of the UK for a short time.
- George Carlin — Comedian (1937)
- George Clooney — Movie Actor (1961)
Looking for names like George?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare George to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for George against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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