boy's name
Preston
PRES-ten
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 133,013
the United States
#299
2025 births
Preston means the priest's settlement — land held by the church rather than by a lord, which is why so many English places carry the name. It charts in six of the seven markets we track.
- Preston is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2007, when 3,814 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 2,906 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Preston over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 458 |
| 1890s | 514 |
| 1900s | 739 |
| 1910s | 3,068 |
| 1920s | 4,250 |
| 1930s | 3,451 |
| 1940s | 4,514 |
| 1950s | 5,184 |
| 1960s | 4,810 |
| 1970s | 5,531 |
| 1980s | 10,324 |
| 1990s | 17,201 |
| 2000s | 30,496 |
| 2010s | 25,230 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,987 |
What Preston means
Preston means the priest's town, or the priest's estate. The Old English joins the word for a priest to tun, an enclosure or settlement, recording who held the land.
Where Preston comes from
Preston is an English place name from preost, a priest, joined to tun — an enclosure or settlement. It is very common because it describes a real category of medieval landholding: an estate whose revenues supported a church or a priest rather than a secular lord, and there are Prestons across Lancashire, Yorkshire, Sussex and Scotland. The preost is a borrowing from Greek presbyteros, an elder, which also gives presbyterian. The tun element is the ancestor of the modern town.
Preston in use
Preston peaked in the United States in 2007, when 3,814 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 299th in the United States on 1,141 births, 482nd in Northern Ireland, 658th in Ireland on 5, 929th in England and Wales on 34 and 1689th in France on 20, across 133,013 lifetime births in six of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Preston?
In 2025, Preston was given to 1,141 babies in the United States, ranking #299 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Preston 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 Preston
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Preston also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Preston over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Preston 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.
- Prestyn
Sibling names for Preston
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Preston — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Preston
What does the name Preston mean?
The priest's settlement — Old English preost joined to tun, an enclosure.
Why are there so many places called Preston?
It describes a category of landholding — an estate supporting a church or priest rather than a secular lord.
Is priest a Greek word?
Ultimately yes — from presbyteros, an elder, which also gives presbyterian.
How popular is Preston?
299th in the United States, down from a 2007 peak of 3,797 births.
Is Preston a girl's or a boy's name?
Preston is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Preston?
Preston has 2 syllables.
Is Preston a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Preston currently ranks #299 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.