ESC Name Rank Total Searching... No names found Try searching for: Emma, Liam, Olivia, Noah... 1951 First Year 2026 Last Year 2015 Peak Year #67 Peak Rank 64K Total Count 76 Years Active 🌍 ## Meaning & Origin of Piper What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures. Piper is an English given name meaning "piper". It is a transferred use of the surname, which originated as an occupational name in England in the Middle Ages for a pipe player. The given name increased in use for girls in the mid-20th century in the Anglosphere due to the American actress Piper Laurie, who was born Rosetta Jacobs and adopted her stage name in 1949. Source: [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper%5F%28given%5Fname%29) (CC BY-SA 3.0). [Read more → ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper%5F%28given%5Fname%29) [![Wikipedia thumbnail for Piper](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/32/Girl_with_a_Recorder_after_Jan_Miense_Molenaer%2C_Art_Gallery_of_Nova_Scotia.jpg/330px-Girl_with_a_Recorder_after_Jan_Miense_Molenaer%2C_Art_Gallery_of_Nova_Scotia.jpg)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper%5F%28given%5Fname%29) 📖 ## The Story of Piper Piper first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1951, with 11 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 2015, when 4,139 Pipers were born — ranking #67 that year. As of 2026, Piper ranks #186 for baby girls with 1,658 births, falling sharply (-37%). In total, more than 64K Pipers have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1950s through the 2020s. ## Popularity Over Time ## Popularity by State ME WA MT ND MN WI MI NY VT NH MA OR ID SD IA IL IN OH PA NJ CT RI CA NV WY NE MO KY WV VA MD DE DC UT CO KS AR TN NC SC AK AZ NM OK LA MS AL GA HI TX FL Top 10 11-50 51-100 101-500 500+ No data 🎶 ## Names that sound like Piper Phonetically similar names — useful when Piper is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name. * [Pyper](/pyper) * Paper * [Pepper](/pepper) * Popper * Pooper * Pauper * Papper * Peeper * Peper * [Pipper](/pipper) * Papr * [Pieper](/pieper) Source: [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated. ❓ ## Frequently Asked Questions about Piper What does the name Piper mean? Piper is an English given name meaning "piper". It is a transferred use of the surname, which originated as an occupational name in England in the Middle Ages for a pipe player. The given name increased in use for girls in the mid-20th century in the Anglosphere due to the American actress Piper Laurie, who was born Rosetta Jacobs and adopted her stage name in 1949. How popular is Piper in 2026? In 2026, Piper ranks #186 among girls' names in the U.S., with 1,658 babies given the name that year. When was Piper most popular? Piper reached its peak popularity in 2015, ranking #67 that year with 4,139 babies given the name. In which U.S. states is Piper most popular? Piper has historically been most popular in Wyoming, Montana, Vermont. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Piper. Is Piper a unisex name? In U.S. Social Security records, Piper is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name. What names go well with Piper? Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Piper include Susie, Iris, Flora. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data. ## Similar Names [👧SusiePeak #67](/susie)[👧IrisPeak #67](/iris)[👧FloraPeak #68](/flora)[👧RosaliePeak #66](/rosalie)[👧VeronicaPeak #68](/veronica)[👧EileenPeak #68](/eileen)[👧ArielPeak #66](/ariel)[👧VickiePeak #68](/vickie) ## About the name Piper Piper is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1951 and has accumulated 64K births in the dataset. Piper's peak popularity came in 2015 when it ranked #67\. Use the chart and map above to compare Piper's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices. ### Continue exploring * [ Top names of 2015 → ](/year/2015) * [ Names of the 2010s → ](/decade/2010s) * [ Names starting with "P" → ](/letter/p) * [ Browse all girl names → ](/names/girls) * [ Top names of 2026 → ](/year/2026) Data sources * Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. [Social Security Administration ](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/). Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships. * Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — [Behind the Name ](https://www.behindthename.com/) (used under their public API terms). * Meaning prose and editorial summary — [Wikipedia ](https://en.wikipedia.org/) article extracts, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0 ](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). * Predicted nationality distribution — [Nationalize.io ](https://nationalize.io/). * Phonetically similar names — [Datamuse ](https://www.datamuse.com/api/). Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.