Banks
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Meaning
surname, "dweller by the riverbank"
The story
Banks is the dweller by the riverbank, a topographic surname like its neighbor Briggs, and it keeps the final -s that Brooks and Briggs wear, the surname plural that reads as family. The record spent a century never once reaching 150 a decade, then moved like water finding a channel: about 40 in the 1990s, 220 in the 2000s, 1,100 in the 2010s, and already 5,100 so far this decade, more than four and a half times the full 2010s with years to run. It goes mostly to boys, about 6,400 to 510 all-time, with 482 girls so far this decade. The river gave the old family its address, and the address became the name: where the water meets the land, and where the money jokes write themselves and get politely ignored.
How popular is Banks around the world?
In the United States, 5,115 babies were named Banks between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 24 boys named Banks were registered in 2025.
Banks is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 4,300
In the United States, 5,115 babies were named Banks between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Banks peaked in the 2020s. Banks went to 106 US babies in 2015 and 1,188 in 2025, 11.2 times as many.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 2,400
In New Zealand, 24 boys named Banks were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 3,800
In Canada, 79 boys named Banks were born in 2024, the 407th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 27,000
In England and Wales, 19 boys named Banks were born in 2025, ranked 1,406th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Banks
Most people given the name Banks in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Banks deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Banks truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Banks fits with your family’s names and surname.
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