New Baby Name

Buddy

Boy · American English

Buddy

Say it: BUD-ee

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From the American informal word buddy 'friend', probably from 'brother'; used as a nickname, then as a given name.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Registered as a given name in the US mostly from the 1920s to the 1950s.

Its wave through time

A fashion of the 1930s

In the United States

020406018801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1935per 100,000 babies of that sex
  • 22,426 babies given this name since 1893
  • At its height in 1935, about 1 in 1,700 boys
  • 24 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

American

Famous bearers

  • Buddy Holly, American rock pioneer
  • Buddy Rich, American drummer

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.