# Preston (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/preston/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys |
| Origin | English |
| Meaning | “priests'”, “settlement” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɹɛs.tən/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 123,757 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 122,958 / 799 (1% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,404, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old English Prēostatūn, from prēosta (“priests'”, genitive plural) + tūn (“settlement”). Doublet of Prestatyn.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 21 | 6,291 |
| 2012 | 14 | 8,529 |
| 2013 | 15 | 8,066 |
| 2014 | 20 | 6,389 |
| 2015 | 19 | 6,664 |
| 2016 | 24 | 5,571 |
| 2017 | 21 | 5,990 |
| 2018 | 13 | 8,501 |
| 2019 | 19 | 6,364 |
| 2020 | 19 | 6,272 |
| 2021 | 22 | 5,700 |
| 2022 | 16 | 7,217 |
| 2023 | 17 | 6,866 |
| 2024 | 18 | 6,591 |
| 2025 | 10 | 9,944 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 3,037 | 136 |
| 2012 | 2,945 | 130 |
| 2013 | 2,670 | 148 |
| 2014 | 2,733 | 148 |
| 2015 | 2,456 | 169 |
| 2016 | 2,313 | 172 |
| 2017 | 2,073 | 190 |
| 2018 | 1,966 | 205 |
| 2019 | 1,748 | 217 |
| 2020 | 1,647 | 228 |
| 2021 | 1,473 | 241 |
| 2022 | 1,354 | 255 |
| 2023 | 1,232 | 274 |
| 2024 | 1,048 | 330 |
| 2025 | 1,131 | 299 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 257 | 204 |
| 2012 | 268 | 207 |
| 2013 | 242 | 217 |
| 2014 | 218 | 248 |
| 2015 | 191 | 268 |
| 2016 | 178 | 285 |
| 2017 | 146 | 330 |
| 2018 | 145 | 325 |
| 2019 | 119 | 369 |
| 2020 | 92 | 436 |
| 2021 | 76 | 514 |
| 2022 | 70 | 548 |
| 2023 | 49 | 704 |
| 2024 | 49 | 721 |
| 2025 | 34 | 914 |

## People named Preston

- Preston Sturges, American film director and screenwriter (1898-1959)
- Preston Foster, American actor, vocalist (1900-1970)
- Preston Tucker, American businessman (1903-1956)
- Preston Bailey, American actor
- Preston Cloud, American earth scientist, biogeologist, cosmologist, and paleontologist (1912–1991)
- Preston Lacy, American stuntman and actor
- Francis Preston Blair, American newspaper editor and presidential advisor (1791-1876)
- Preston Dickinson, American artist (1889-1930)
- Preston Manning, Canadian politician
- Preston King, American politician
- Preston Blair, American animator (1908–1995)
- Preston Holder, American archaeologist (1907-1980)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.