Fun Facts About the Name Trigger
- 268 babies named Trigger: U.S. records list 268 babies given the name Trigger from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Trigger Mean?
Trigger is a transferred use of the English common noun, which was borrowed from Dutch trekker, "one who pulls," a derivative of the verb trekken, "to pull, draw." The Dutch word could name a person or a thing that pulls, and English took it up for the small lever on a firearm that releases the hammer or firing mechanism. From that technical sense the word broadened to mean any catch or device that sets a mechanism in motion, and figuratively anything that starts a reaction. Used as a name, it carries the literal sense of the word it comes from rather than a separate naming tradition.
Trigger Name History & Origins
The word entered English in the 1600s, borrowed from Dutch at a time when Dutch terms for ships, tools, and firearms were passing into English in large numbers. Dutch trekker comes from trekken, "to pull or draw," the same verb behind the English noun trek and the Afrikaans Voortrekker ("pioneer," literally one who treks ahead). The firearm sense was the earliest in English and remained central; the word was later applied to the release or catch on other mechanisms, and figuratively to anything that sets events going.
As a personal name, Trigger is an informal use of the word rather than a name handed down from an older stock of given names. It is familiar in the English-speaking world largely through Roy Rogers's horse Trigger, a fixture of his films and television series from the late 1930s into the 1960s, and through the character Trigger in the British sitcom Only Fools and Horses. These are well-known uses of the word as a name, not evidence that they introduced it as a personal name, and Trigger stays uncommon as a given name for people. It also occurs as an English surname, which is most likely a nickname taken from the same word.
How Popular is the Name Trigger?
Trigger has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2014. Its best rank was #4,249 in 2014.
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 | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #10,586 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #10,783 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2023 | #8,200 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #7,715 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2021 | #5,752 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2020 | #5,019 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2019 | #7,133 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2018 | #6,012 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2017 | #4,732 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2016 | #5,110 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2015 | #5,272 | 18 | 0.0009% |
| 2014 | #4,249 | 24 | 0.0012% |
| 2013 | #4,603 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2012 | #5,025 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2011 | #4,641 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2010 | #6,670 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2009 | #6,064 | 15 | 0.0008% |
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 Trigger Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You like to control everyone within your influence, to shape things to your own liking. If positive, you develop high spirituality, as you have a God's protection. You are sensitive, affectionate, imaginative and cooperative, spiritually aware and prone to self-sacrifice. You can keep secrets and are a good diplomat. You may have healing and psychic powers. You are intuitive and might be interested in the arts, drama or science.
Creative and outgoing, you are always looking for an opportunity to show your abilities, especially before audience. You are very flexible and like to feel appreciated. You are looking for chances to mix with others socially and to communicate your ideas. You like to talk and can easily relate to different cultures and concepts. The biggest challenge for you is uncertainty. Easily getting bored, you can move from one job to another, switch projects and lovers. The high creative force can lead you either to happiness or unhappiness. If you understand your goals, if you can make major decisions in life and follow it directly and straight up without worry and uncertainty, you are able to achieve great heights.
✦ Trigger's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Trigger's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.