Liberty
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Meaning
“'freedom', from Latin libertas”
The story
The Statue of Liberty arrived with one formal title, Liberty Enlightening the World, and acquired another identity through a poem. Emma Lazarus wrote The New Colossus to help raise money for the pedestal. Years later, its words were fixed inside the monument, recasting the torch-bearing figure as the Mother of Exiles who welcomes people driven from home. The statue's meanings have never been uncontested, especially in a country that has repeatedly restricted freedom and immigration. That tension belongs in the story rather than outside it. Liberty comes from Latin libertas through the English virtue word, but a virtue name is not proof that its bearer or nation already possesses the ideal. It is closer to a demand. Lazarus gave the monument a voice; every generation must decide whether the welcome described by that voice is being honored.
How popular is Liberty around the world?
In the United States, 2,064 babies were named Liberty between 2020 and 2025.
Liberty is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, England and Wales, Canada and Brazil.
United States
1 in 11,000
In the United States, 2,064 babies were named Liberty between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Liberty peaked in the 2000s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 11,000
In Scotland, 4 girls named Liberty were registered in 2024, the 638th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 6 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
England and Wales
1 in 20,000
In England and Wales, 29 girls named Liberty were born in 2025, ranked 1,133rd among girls 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
Canada
1 in 30,000
In Canada, 12 girls named Liberty were born in 2024, ranked 1,854th among girls 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)
Austria
last on record 2015
Liberty is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 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)
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 32 people in Brazil were named Liberty, ranked 90,373rd, with a median age of 55.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
last on record 1947
Liberty is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New Zealand
last on record 2011
Liberty is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
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
last on record 2016
Liberty is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland 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 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 Liberty
Most people given the name Liberty in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Liberty deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Liberty 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 Liberty fits with your family’s names and surname.
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