Watson Boy
How popular is Watson?
#1,008 boy name in 2025
224 baby boys were named Watson in the US in 2025, making it the 1008th most popular boy name. Another 5 girls got the name (#14,938 for girls).
Watson popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #1,008 for boys (▼ 142 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 224 boys, 5 girls |
| 10-year trend | Rising fast (+84% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #1,406 in 2015, #603 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2021 (466 boys) |
| Highest rank | #389 in 1882 |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 99% boys, 1% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.2% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Watson counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Watson family of names ranked #914 for boys in 2025 (#802 the year before), with 230 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Watson | 224 | 97% |
| Wattson | 6 | 3% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Watson is most popular
Babies named Watson per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- South Dakota: 0.8 per 1,000 (15 boys)
- Wisconsin: 0.6 per 1,000 (76 boys)
- Iowa: 0.6 per 1,000 (40 boys)
- Minnesota: 0.6 per 1,000 (68 boys)
- North Dakota: 0.5 per 1,000 (8 boys)
Watson by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 105 | #389 |
| 1890s | 126 | #400 |
| 1900s | 123 | #536 |
| 1910s | 543 | #569 |
| 1920s | 537 | #804 |
| 1930s | 375 | #926 |
| 1940s | 334 | #951 |
| 1950s | 250 | #1,260 |
| 1960s | 154 | #1,520 |
| 1970s | 105 | #2,508 |
| 1980s | 129 | #2,708 |
| 1990s | 155 | #3,178 |
| 2000s | 219 | #3,087 |
| 2010s | 1,459 | #694 |
| 2020s | 2,085 | #597 |
Boy names about as popular as Watson
Questions
- Is Watson a boy or girl name?
- Watson is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 99% of babies named Watson were boys.
- How popular is the name Watson?
- 224 baby boys were named Watson in the US in 2025, making it the 1008th most popular boy name. Another 5 girls got the name (#14,938 for girls).
- When was Watson most popular?
- Watson peaked in 2021, when 466 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #389 in 1882.
- How many people are named Watson?
- 6,721 babies have been named Watson in the US since 1880. We estimate about 4,660 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 7.
- Where is Watson most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Watson was most common in South Dakota, at 0.8 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.