Princeton

What Princeton means

Means “town”

From prince +‎ -ton (“town”), originally in honor of crown princes or princes of the British Empire but later chiefly in honor of others with the name Prince or locations named Princeton.

Source: Wiktionary, “Princeton” (revision 94542689), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Princeton?

US: Falling: down from #430 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #4747 in 2015, #4275 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2018, when 788 boys got the name (#406 that year). First in the US records in 1950.

How common

• About 1 in 4,048 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 67,984 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MS (1.11 per 1,000 boys), GA (0.86 per 1,000 boys), AR (0.79 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Princeton is #652 in the US and #4275 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Princeton were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Prynceton7 US
• Princetyn6 US
• Princeten5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Princeton

Boys

• Elliott#160“my God is Yahweh”^*
• Elliot#151Variant of Elliott, meaning “my God is Yahweh”^*
• Everett#77Same root as Everard, meaning “wild boar + hard, brave”^*
• Jameson#137Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #137 vs #1,093 in 2025
• Barrett#171Editor’s note 2,138 US babies in 2025, but under 3 in England & Wales
• Weston#55Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #120 in 2015, #55 in 2025

For a sister

• Alice#65“noble + character”^*
• Vera#205“faith”^*
• June#150From the word “name”^*
• Rosalie#171“rose”^*
• Nora#20Form of Eleanor, possibly meaning “other”^*
• Everleigh#194“wild boar + woodland clearing”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Princeton’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.