Usher
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- USH-er
- Origin
- English
- US rank, 2025
- #1,959 for boys
Usher is a boys' name of English origin, meaning “doorkeeper”. In 2025 it ranked 1,959th for boys in the US (78 babies).
What does Usher mean?
English: occupational surname, via Norman French from Latin ostiarius
“doorkeeper”
An occupational surname for a doorkeeper; Edgar Allan Poe's tale The Fall of the House of Usher (1839) made it famous.
Is Usher a girl's or a boy's name?
Usher is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 78 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Usher in the UK?
No boys in the UK were given it in 2025, or too few to be listed. Its busiest year was 2005, with 4 boys.
Usher in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 4 | #4,195 |
| 2021 | 0 | – |
| 2020 | 0 | – |
| 2019 | 3 | #4,913 |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 0 | – |
| 2015 | 0 | – |
| 2014 | 0 | – |
| 2013 | 0 | – |
| 2012 | 0 | – |
| 2011 | 3 | #4,837 |
| 2010 | 4 | #4,026 |
| 2009 | 1 | #6,016 |
| 2008 | 3 | #4,615 |
| 2007 | 3 | #4,486 |
| 2006 | 0 | – |
| 2005 | 4 | #3,330 |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 3 | #3,593 |
How popular is Usher in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- #1,959among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 78about 1 in 22,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Risingup 52% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1%chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 78 boys in the US were named Usher, making it the 1,959th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 3,073rd. It first appears in the records in 1914.
It has been given to more boys each year for the last 5 years. 2025 had the most boys named Usher of any year since it first appeared, in 1914.
Half of all the boys named Usher in the US since 1880 were born between 2004 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.
Usher in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 78 | #1,959 |
| 2024 | 63 | #2,261 |
| 2023 | 60 | #2,314 |
| 2022 | 44 | #2,871 |
| 2021 | 43 | #2,861 |
| 2020 | 37 | #3,073 |
| 2019 | 59 | #2,309 |
| 2018 | 36 | #3,168 |
| 2017 | 34 | #3,310 |
| 2016 | 41 | #2,884 |
| 2015 | 45 | #2,683 |
| 2014 | 31 | #3,454 |
| 2013 | 41 | #2,802 |
| 2012 | 59 | #2,208 |
| 2011 | 44 | #2,698 |
| 2010 | 32 | #3,376 |
| 2009 | 36 | #3,161 |
| 2008 | 45 | #2,716 |
| 2007 | 35 | #3,186 |
| 2006 | 38 | #2,931 |
| 2005 | 46 | #2,463 |
| 2004 | 43 | #2,527 |
| 2003 | 15 | #5,030 |
| 2002 | 29 | #3,091 |
| 2001 | 19 | #4,115 |
| 2000 | 16 | #4,567 |
| 1999 | 19 | #3,829 |
| 1998 | 22 | #3,386 |
| 1997 | 19 | #3,596 |
| 1996 | 9 | #5,975 |
| 1995 | 15 | #4,046 |
| 1994 | 8 | #6,366 |
| 1993 | 10 | #5,353 |
| 1992 | 11 | #4,864 |
| 1991 | 8 | #5,934 |
| 1990 | 6 | #7,171 |
| 1989 | 7 | #6,222 |
| 1988 | 5 | #7,264 |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 7 | #5,327 |
| 1985 | 5 | #6,517 |
| 1984 | 0 | – |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 8 | #4,591 |
| 1981 | 8 | #4,507 |
| 1980 | 0 | – |
| 1979 | 6 | #5,353 |
| 1978 | 6 | #5,056 |
| 1977 | 6 | #5,121 |
| 1976 | 0 | – |
| 1975 | 0 | – |
| 1974 | 0 | – |
| 1973 | 0 | – |
| 1972 | 0 | – |
| 1971 | 0 | – |
| 1970 | 0 | – |
| 1969 | 0 | – |
| 1968 | 0 | – |
| 1967 | 0 | – |
| 1966 | 0 | – |
| 1965 | 0 | – |
| 1964 | 0 | – |
| 1963 | 0 | – |
| 1962 | 0 | – |
| 1961 | 0 | – |
| 1960 | 10 | #2,683 |
| 1959 | 0 | – |
| 1958 | 0 | – |
| 1957 | 5 | #3,991 |
| 1956 | 0 | – |
| 1955 | 7 | #3,199 |
| 1954 | 0 | – |
| 1953 | 0 | – |
| 1952 | 0 | – |
| 1951 | 0 | – |
| 1950 | 0 | – |
| 1949 | 9 | #2,605 |
| 1948 | 0 | – |
| 1947 | 0 | – |
| 1946 | 0 | – |
| 1945 | 0 | – |
| 1944 | 0 | – |
| 1943 | 0 | – |
| 1942 | 0 | – |
| 1941 | 0 | – |
| 1940 | 0 | – |
| 1939 | 0 | – |
| 1938 | 0 | – |
| 1937 | 0 | – |
| 1936 | 0 | – |
| 1935 | 0 | – |
| 1934 | 6 | #3,275 |
| 1933 | 0 | – |
| 1932 | 0 | – |
| 1931 | 0 | – |
| 1930 | 0 | – |
| 1929 | 0 | – |
| 1928 | 5 | #4,149 |
| 1927 | 0 | – |
| 1926 | 5 | #4,199 |
| 1925 | 0 | – |
| 1924 | 0 | – |
| 1923 | 0 | – |
| 1922 | 0 | – |
| 1921 | 0 | – |
| 1920 | 0 | – |
| 1919 | 0 | – |
| 1918 | 0 | – |
| 1917 | 0 | – |
| 1916 | 0 | – |
| 1915 | 0 | – |
| 1914 | 5 | #3,263 |
Names like Usher
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Umar Musa Muhammad Hamza Yahya Ahmed Amir Ibrahim Ayaan Abdullah River Rayyan
Names related to Usher
More English names
Lily Evelyn Hudson Ivy Harper Grace Violet Willow Daisy Poppy Riley Oakley Mason Cooper Ruby Hallie
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Usher: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/usher, updated 20 October 2026.