boy's name
Baker
BAY-ker
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 9,051
the United States
#217
2025 births
Baker is a boy's name of English origin, an occupational surname for someone who baked bread. It comes from the Old English bacan, to bake, and belongs to the same wave of trade surnames as Carter, Cooper and Fletcher that have moved into use as first names.
- Baker is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 1,765 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,878 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1895.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Baker over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 11 |
| 1900s | 10 |
| 1910s | 84 |
| 1920s | 122 |
| 1930s | 56 |
| 1940s | 69 |
| 1950s | 37 |
| 1960s | 13 |
| 1970s | 28 |
| 1980s | 73 |
| 1990s | 193 |
| 2000s | 433 |
| 2010s | 1,816 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,037 |
What Baker means
Baker means exactly what it says: one who bakes. The surname was given to the village baker, a role important enough in a medieval settlement to identify a family for centuries afterwards, and it survives as one of the most common occupational surnames in English.
Where Baker comes from
Baker descends from the Middle English bakere, from the Old English bacan, to bake. In medieval England the baker held a licensed and closely regulated trade — the Assize of Bread fixed loaf weights and prices, and short-weighting was punished publicly, which is one proposed source of the baker's dozen. The female equivalent, baxter, survives as a separate surname and is now also used as a first name. Baker itself has been recorded as a given name since at least the 1890s in the American data, but its recent rise belongs to the broader fashion for occupational surnames as first names rather than to any continuous tradition.
Baker in use
Baker charts in only two of the seven countries we track, and its highest recorded use is 2025, the most recent year in our records.
How popular is Baker?
In 2025, Baker was given to 1,765 babies in the United States, ranking #217 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Baker is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Baker
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Baker also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Baker over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Baker in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Bakr
Sibling names for Baker
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Baker — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Baker
What does the name Baker mean?
Baker means one who bakes. It began as an occupational surname for the village baker, from the Old English bacan.
Is Baker a boy's or a girl's name?
It is given overwhelmingly to boys, though like most occupational surnames it carries no inherent gender.
Is Baker a common first name?
It is rising but still uncommon, and it appears in only two of the six countries whose birth records we track.
How popular is the name Baker?
In 2025, Baker was given to 1,765 babies in the United States, ranking #217 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Baker?
Baker has 2 syllables.
When was Baker most popular?
Baker peaked in 2025, when 1,765 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Baker a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Baker currently ranks #217 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.