Ebony
#5,410 for girls in 2025, 23 births · Last seen for boys in 2008 at #12,553
Given to girls 98.8% of the time
- Peak · girls
- 1982 · 2,279 births
- Debut · girls
- 6 births
- In top 100 · girls
- neverof 146 years
- Total births · girls
- 38,998since 1950
Ebony over time
Rank among girls' names. Ebony has never cracked the top 100 here.
Gaps mean fewer than 5 babies received the name that year, so the SSA doesn't publish it.
Show data table
| Year | girls | boys | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | births | rank | births | |
| 2025 | #5,410 | 23 | — | |
| 2024 | #5,443 | 23 | — | |
| 2023 | #6,169 | 19 | — | |
| 2022 | #4,793 | 28 | — | |
| 2021 | #4,245 | 33 | — | |
| 2020 | #4,548 | 29 | — | |
| 2019 | #3,923 | 37 | — | |
| 2018 | #3,438 | 45 | — | |
| 2017 | #3,346 | 47 | — | |
| 2016 | #2,539 | 70 | — | |
| 2015 | #3,024 | 56 | — | |
| 2014 | #2,517 | 71 | — | |
| 2013 | #1,900 | 105 | — | |
| 2012 | #2,047 | 94 | — | |
| 2011 | #2,000 | 98 | — | |
| 2010 | #1,747 | 119 | — | |
| 2009 | #1,383 | 171 | — | |
| 2008 | #1,345 | 182 | #12,553 | 5 |
| 2007 | #1,205 | 208 | — | |
| 2006 | #1,102 | 227 | — | |
| 2005 | #958 | 257 | — | |
| 2004 | #816 | 307 | #11,356 | 5 |
| 2003 | #749 | 333 | — | |
| 2002 | #675 | 372 | — | |
| 2001 | #661 | 380 | — | |
| 2000 | #552 | 474 | #9,112 | 6 |
| 1999 | #489 | 530 | #9,912 | 5 |
| 1998 | #433 | 614 | #9,631 | 5 |
| 1997 | #375 | 722 | — | |
| 1996 | #347 | 801 | #7,971 | 6 |
| 1995 | #305 | 907 | #6,992 | 7 |
| 1994 | #280 | 994 | — | |
| 1993 | #241 | 1,164 | — | |
| 1992 | #213 | 1,349 | #5,660 | 9 |
| 1991 | #195 | 1,526 | #5,942 | 8 |
| 1990 | #186 | 1,567 | #2,952 | 21 |
| 1989 | #176 | 1,577 | #2,106 | 33 |
| 1988 | #164 | 1,726 | #3,705 | 13 |
| 1987 | #157 | 1,748 | #3,521 | 13 |
| 1986 | #165 | 1,662 | #3,440 | 13 |
| 1985 | #160 | 1,787 | #2,828 | 17 |
| 1984 | #137 | 2,130 | #2,364 | 21 |
| 1983 | #135 | 2,219 | #2,493 | 19 |
| 1982 | #132 | 2,279 | #1,654 | 36 |
| 1981 | #178 | 1,554 | #2,898 | 15 |
| 1980 | #175 | 1,581 | #2,367 | 21 |
| 1979 | #184 | 1,443 | #2,379 | 20 |
| 1978 | #198 | 1,320 | #2,473 | 18 |
| 1977 | #213 | 1,157 | #2,063 | 23 |
| 1976 | #265 | 896 | #2,113 | 22 |
| 1975 | #351 | 616 | #1,704 | 29 |
| 1974 | #404 | 499 | #2,050 | 21 |
| 1973 | #551 | 299 | #2,513 | 15 |
| 1972 | #645 | 236 | #2,243 | 17 |
| 1971 | #828 | 167 | #2,813 | 12 |
| 1970 | #1,681 | 55 | — | |
| 1969 | #2,254 | 32 | — | |
| 1968 | #3,315 | 16 | — | |
| 1967 | #6,804 | 5 | — | |
| 1966 | #5,809 | 6 | — | |
| 1965 | — | — | ||
| 1964 | — | — | ||
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| 1950 | #4,738 | 6 | — | |
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| 1883 | — | — | ||
| 1882 | — | — | ||
| 1881 | — | — | ||
| 1880 | — | — | ||
The first year at least five girls were named Ebony! It came in at #4,738, and was given to 6 baby girls.
Quietest stretch: 1951–1965, when fewer than 5 girls a year got the name.
Where Ebony is popular in 1978
- Rank in state
- Top 10
- 11–50
- 51–100
- 101–500
- 501+
- Not published
Hover or tap a state for its numbers.
- District of Columbia#51 · 1 in 205
- Delaware#81 · 1 in 309
- South Carolina#99 · 1 in 416
- Virginia#120 · 1 in 546
- New York#120 · 1 in 568
Best ever in a state: #17 in District of Columbia, 1982.
Show every state
| State | Rank | Births | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| District of Columbia | #51 | 27 | 1 in 205 |
| Delaware | #81 | 9 | 1 in 309 |
| South Carolina | #99 | 41 | 1 in 416 |
| New York | #120 | 173 | 1 in 568 |
| Virginia | #120 | 51 | 1 in 546 |
| Florida | #131 | 74 | 1 in 595 |
| North Carolina | #136 | 52 | 1 in 622 |
| Nevada | #144 | 6 | 1 in 553 |
| Louisiana | #145 | 42 | 1 in 655 |
| Michigan | #145 | 78 | 1 in 738 |
| Georgia | #150 | 45 | 1 in 717 |
| Ohio | #150 | 90 | 1 in 766 |
| Mississippi | #154 | 24 | 1 in 639 |
| New Jersey | #168 | 42 | 1 in 864 |
| Tennessee | #173 | 33 | 1 in 844 |
| Maryland | #174 | 21 | 1 in 869 |
| Arkansas | #178 | 15 | 1 in 839 |
| Illinois | #181 | 71 | 1 in 999 |
| Alabama | #186 | 26 | 1 in 837 |
| Missouri | #195 | 28 | 1 in 1,095 |
| Pennsylvania | #217 | 52 | 1 in 1,269 |
| Connecticut | #229 | 11 | 1 in 1,290 |
| California | #245 | 121 | 1 in 1,267 |
| Oklahoma | #247 | 13 | 1 in 1,308 |
| Indiana | #255 | 21 | 1 in 1,657 |
| Kentucky | #266 | 15 | 1 in 1,593 |
| Texas | #277 | 70 | 1 in 1,477 |
| Colorado | #297 | 10 | 1 in 1,729 |
| Kansas | #348 | 6 | 1 in 2,239 |
| Massachusetts | #372 | 10 | 1 in 2,966 |
| Wisconsin | #431 | 7 | 1 in 4,138 |
| Washington | #515 | 6 | 1 in 3,824 |
| Alaska | — | — | — |
| Arizona | — | — | — |
| Hawaii | — | — | — |
| Idaho | — | — | — |
| Iowa | — | — | — |
| Maine | — | — | — |
| Minnesota | — | — | — |
| Montana | — | — | — |
| Nebraska | — | — | — |
| New Hampshire | — | — | — |
| New Mexico | — | — | — |
| North Dakota | — | — | — |
| Oregon | — | — | — |
| Rhode Island | — | — | — |
| South Dakota | — | — | — |
| Utah | — | — | — |
| Vermont | — | — | — |
| West Virginia | — | — | — |
| Wyoming | — | — | — |
Ranks are within each state; “1 in N” is out of the girls born there that year. The SSA only publishes a name in a state when 5 or more babies of one sex got it.
See more about Ebony
- 33 spots since 2024 (#5,443 → #5,410)
- 862 spots since 2020 (#4,548 → #5,410)
- 2,386 spots since 2015 (#3,024 → #5,410)
- Biggest jump: 853 spots in 1971 (#1,681 → #828)
- Biggest drop: 144 spots in 2006 (#958 → #1,102)
- Debuted 1950
- Peaked 1982 at #132 (2,279 births)
- Births halved by 1994, 12 yrs later
- Top 10: never
- Top 100: never
- Top 1,000: 35 yrs · run 1971–2005
- Highest: 1 in 743 girls born in 1982 were named Ebony (0.13%)
- Latest: 1 in 69,881 girls born in 2025 (0.00%)
- 46.8% of all girls named Ebony (18,263) were born in this decade
Show by decade
| Decade | Births | Best rank | Avg rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 6 | #4,738 (1950) | #4,738 |
| 1960s | 59 | #2,254 (1969) | #4,546 |
| 1970s | 6,688 | #184 (1979) | #532 |
| 1980s | 18,263 | #132 (1982) | #158 |
| 1990s | 10,174 | #186 (1990) | #306 |
| 2000s | 2,911 | #552 (2000) | #945 |
| 2010s | 742 | #1,747 (2010) | #2,648 |
| 2020s | 155 | #4,245 (2021) | #5,101 |
All figures count published births only (names given to at least 5 girls in a year). Registrations before 1937 are incomplete, so early shares and totals run low.
Ebony in 1978
Top girls' names in 1978
Top boys' names in 1978
More about 1978
girls
1,531,859 girls got a published name in 1978; 1 in 1,160 of them was named Ebony, which outranked 98.3% of the 11,475 girls' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 16.5% of girls (24.6% in 1880, 7.0% in 2025).
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.
boys
1,641,837 boys got a published name in 1978; 1 in 91,213 of them was named Ebony, which outranked 63.4% of the 6,762 boys' names that year. The ten most popular names covered 24.6% of boys (44.2% in 1880, 8.0% in 2025).
- #2,375Virgilio19
- #2,375Weylin19
- #2,375Winford19
- #2,473Ebony18
- #2,473Akiva18
- #2,473Alford18
- #2,473Alphonzo18
- #2,568Agapito17
- #2,568Aharon17
- #2,568Akbar17
Tied with 94 names at #2,473; 3 shown. Tied names share a rank, as in SSA's lists.
Among names in the top 1,000 of either year.