# Watson (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/watson/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 6,721 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 6,699 / 22 (0% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 59, 1996 to 2025 |

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 6 | 15,577 |
| 2019 | 5 | 17,842 |
| 2020 | 6 | 14,979 |
| 2025 | 5 | 17,124 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 43 | 2,794 |
| 2012 | 82 | 1,813 |
| 2013 | 62 | 2,162 |
| 2014 | 93 | 1,668 |
| 2015 | 122 | 1,414 |
| 2016 | 121 | 1,442 |
| 2017 | 198 | 1,022 |
| 2018 | 340 | 715 |
| 2019 | 362 | 697 |
| 2020 | 454 | 603 |
| 2021 | 466 | 597 |
| 2022 | 356 | 729 |
| 2023 | 306 | 805 |
| 2024 | 279 | 868 |
| 2025 | 224 | 1,011 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2018 | 10 | 2,112 |
| 2019 | 16 | 1,506 |
| 2020 | 14 | 1,635 |
| 2021 | 6 | 3,017 |
| 2022 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,119 |

## People named Watson

- John Watson Foster, American lawyer, politician and diplomat (1836-1917)
- Frank Watson Dyson, English astronomer and Astronomer Royal (1868–1939)
- Watson Washburn, American tennis player (1894–1973)
- Watson C. Squire, American politician (Republican) (1838–1926)
- Richard Watson Gilder, American poet (1844–1909)
- James Cronin, American physicist
- Sallie W. Chisholm, American oceanographer, marine biologist
- Trey Gowdy, American politician and political commentator
- E. W. Howe, American novelist and editor (1853-1937)
- Christopher W. Grady, 12th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

## 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.