Fun Facts About the Name Babe
- 728 babies named Babe: U.S. records list 728 babies given the name Babe from 1880 through 2025. Even 345 boys received the name Babe.
What Does the Name Babe Mean?
Babe is an English name taken from the everyday noun babe, meaning "infant" or "young child." The noun is recorded in Middle English and is the older form of baby; baby was formed from it by adding the diminutive ending -y. Its origin is generally described as imitative or nursery language - a word shaped by the sounds a small child makes, such as ba - rather than by a Latin, Greek, Hebrew, or Germanic root word. Welsh baban, "baby," is often compared with it, but the two are separate words.
Alongside the literal sense of "infant," English developed affectionate and figurative uses of the noun: a sweetheart or romantic partner, and an innocent or inexperienced person, as in the phrase "a babe in the woods." The given name grows out of that familiar, affectionate use of the word rather than out of a saint's name or an ancient naming tradition.
Babe Name History & Origins
Babe began as a common English word, not as a personal name. It appears in Middle English writing and in early English Bibles; the King James Version of 1611 has "out of the mouth of babes and sucklings" in Psalm 8. Its warm, informal use - for a small child or a sweetheart - made it a natural nickname in English-speaking communities.
As a personal name, Babe is mainly American and is far more often a nickname than a name chosen at birth; it has been recorded for both girls and boys. The baseball player George Herman Ruth was known as "Babe," a nickname connected with his youth when he joined the minor-league Baltimore Orioles as a teenager in 1914. The athlete Mildred Ella Didrikson Zaharias was likewise called "Babe." In American folklore the giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan works beside a blue ox named Babe, and the name also belongs to the pig in Dick King-Smith's 1983 children's novel The Sheep-Pig, published in the United States as Babe: The Gallant Pig, and in the 1995 film drawn from it.
How Popular is the Name Babe?
Babe recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 1915. Its best rank was #921 in 1880.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | #5,360 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1938 | #4,395 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1937 | #3,839 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1936 | #3,732 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1935 | #3,791 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1933 | #3,436 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1932 | #3,600 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1931 | #2,592 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1930 | #2,862 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1929 | #2,201 | 15 | 0.0013% |
| 1928 | #2,292 | 15 | 0.0013% |
| 1927 | #2,029 | 19 | 0.0016% |
| 1925 | #2,958 | 11 | 0.0009% |
| 1924 | #2,527 | 14 | 0.0011% |
| 1923 | #2,743 | 12 | 0.0010% |
| 1922 | #2,301 | 16 | 0.0013% |
| 1921 | #2,295 | 16 | 0.0013% |
| 1920 | #2,365 | 15 | 0.0013% |
| 1919 | #3,492 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1918 | #2,693 | 12 | 0.0010% |
| 1917 | #2,005 | 17 | 0.0016% |
| 1916 | #2,682 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1915 | #1,745 | 19 | 0.0019% |
| 1914 | #2,657 | 8 | 0.0011% |
| 1913 | #1,777 | 12 | 0.0019% |
| 1912 | #2,390 | 7 | 0.0013% |
| 1911 | #1,379 | 12 | 0.0029% |
| 1910 | #1,646 | 9 | 0.0023% |
| 1909 | #1,375 | 10 | 0.0029% |
| 1908 | #1,555 | 8 | 0.0024% |
| 1905 | #1,311 | 9 | 0.0031% |
| 1904 | #1,918 | 5 | 0.0018% |
| 1903 | #1,819 | 5 | 0.0019% |
| 1902 | #1,620 | 6 | 0.0023% |
| 1900 | #1,327 | 9 | 0.0030% |
| 1898 | #1,728 | 5 | 0.0019% |
| 1894 | #1,511 | 5 | 0.0022% |
| 1891 | #1,349 | 5 | 0.0027% |
| 1890 | #1,350 | 5 | 0.0026% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | #6,337 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1978 | #5,871 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1971 | #4,974 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #4,033 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1957 | #3,587 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1947 | #2,885 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1943 | #3,249 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1938 | #3,204 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1937 | #3,562 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1936 | #2,307 | 10 | 0.0010% |
| 1935 | #2,542 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1934 | #2,999 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1933 | #2,219 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1932 | #2,867 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1931 | #3,803 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1930 | #2,087 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1929 | #1,936 | 16 | 0.0015% |
| 1928 | #2,531 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1927 | #2,207 | 14 | 0.0012% |
| 1926 | #2,199 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1925 | #2,765 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1924 | #2,660 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1922 | #2,815 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1921 | #2,509 | 12 | 0.0011% |
| 1920 | #2,612 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1919 | #2,896 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1918 | #3,123 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1917 | #2,973 | 8 | 0.0009% |
| 1916 | #3,203 | 7 | 0.0008% |
| 1915 | #2,846 | 8 | 0.0009% |
| 1914 | #2,948 | 6 | 0.0009% |
| 1913 | #1,685 | 11 | 0.0021% |
| 1912 | #1,759 | 9 | 0.0021% |
| 1909 | #1,468 | 5 | 0.0030% |
| 1907 | #1,205 | 6 | 0.0041% |
| 1905 | #1,009 | 7 | 0.0053% |
| 1900 | #1,179 | 6 | 0.0040% |
| 1899 | #939 | 6 | 0.0056% |
| 1897 | #1,074 | 5 | 0.0044% |
| 1896 | #1,114 | 5 | 0.0042% |
| 1895 | #1,091 | 5 | 0.0043% |
| 1882 | #952 | 5 | 0.0044% |
| 1880 | #921 | 5 | 0.0045% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Babe Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Babe's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Babe's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.