Boston
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Meaning
place name, from the English town tied to Saint Botolph (read as "Botolph's town" or "Botwulf's stone")
The story
Boston has been a boys' name longer than it looks: a dozen in the 1890s, over a hundred in the 1920s, a thin thread through midcentury, then the 2000s carried it to about 2,600, the 2010s to about 4,500, and about 2,700 so far this decade. The city's name walked a long road to the nursery: Boston, Massachusetts took it from Boston in Lincolnshire, England, and there the sources split politely. Behind the Name reads the old town as Botwulf's stone, while the 1911 Britannica derives it from Saint Botolph, whose monastery there dates to 654, Botolph's town. Stone or town, a seventh-century abbot hides inside a name that now reads pure Americana, and the records say families noticed the name a full century before the boom.
How popular is Boston around the world?
In the United States, 2,992 babies were named Boston between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 34 boys named Boston were registered in 2025.
Boston is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, South Australia, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 7,300
In the United States, 2,992 babies were named Boston between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Boston peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 1,700
In New Zealand, 34 boys named Boston 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
South Australia
1 in 2,3002017
In South Australia, 8 boys were registered as Boston in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 13,000
In Canada, 29 boys named Boston were born in 2024, the 886th 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 98,000
In England and Wales, 6 boys named Boston were born in 2025, ranked 3,256th 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
Ireland
last on record 2022
Boston is not on the 2025 record for Ireland, where names under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Scotland
last on record 2023
Boston is not on the 2024 record for Scotland, where spellings under 3 in total are suppressed at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico 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 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 Boston
Most people given the name Boston 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.
The Boston deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Boston 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 Boston fits with your family’s names and surname.
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