Cooper
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The story
Straight pieces of wood have to become something round, and then hold water. That is the problem inside Cooper. The English occupational surname means "barrel maker," and the work is more exacting than the finished object lets on. A cooper shapes wooden staves so their edges meet closely when hoops draw them together. For a vessel meant to hold liquid, every joint has to do its share. Colonial Williamsburg's coopers still demonstrate that transformation from separate pieces to a working cask. The name keeps the craft unusually visible: you can move from the word to the object to the hands that made it. What first sounds like an easy, familiar surname turns out to contain a small engineering challenge. The satisfying part is the fit, when all those individual pieces finally hold together.
How popular is Cooper around the world?
In the United States, 34,407 babies were named Cooper between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 126 boys named Cooper were registered in 2025.
Cooper is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, South Australia, Canada, Scotland, England and Wales, New South Wales, Ireland and Austria.
United States
1 in 630
In the United States, 34,407 babies were named Cooper between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Cooper peaked in the 2010s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 460
In New Zealand, 126 boys named Cooper 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 5002017
In South Australia, 37 boys were registered as Cooper 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 970
In Canada, 360 boys named Cooper were born in 2024, the 77th 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)
Scotland
1 in 1,100
In Scotland, 40 boys named Cooper were registered in 2024, the 121st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
England and Wales
1 in 1,200
In England and Wales, 493 boys named Cooper were born in 2025, the 105th most common name 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
New South Wales
#19 · 2025
In New South Wales, 227 boys named Cooper were registered in 2025, ranked 19th in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Ireland
1 in 2,300
In Ireland, 24 boys named Cooper were born in 2025, the 198th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Austria
1 in 76,000
In Austria, 1 boy named Cooper was born in 2025, ranked 1,842nd among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
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 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 Cooper
Most people given the name Cooper 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
Names like Cooper · Names that go with Cooper · Nicknames for Cooper
The Cooper deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Cooper 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 Cooper fits with your family’s names and surname.
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