Ransom

Did you know?

A few things about Ransom you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Ransom

Ransom Riggs

American writer and filmmaker

Choose Ransom and your child shares a first name with Ransom Riggs, an American writer and filmmaker. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Ransom, like who?” Ransom Riggs's Wikipedia article is available in 28 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Ransom Riggs on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Rosiestep, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 17,606 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Ransom, 97 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Ransom would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryRansom has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Ransoms, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1882, when it ranked #453. Today it's #1,688, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📈Then vs nowRansom is 2.6× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 45,662 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 17,606.
• 🍂TrendRansom has slipped 96 places over the last five years and now sits at #1,688. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedRansom is most popular in Kentucky, where it ranks #708, followed by Tennessee (#842). It's in the top 1,000 in 2 states.

About the name Ransom

Ransom is a boy name of English and Latin origin. It has 6 letters and 2 syllables, starting with R and ending in “-som”. US birth records list Ransom for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 145 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1882, when it ranked #453 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #1,688, with 97 babies.

Origin:English namesLatin names