Buddy
About Buddy
Until recently it was rarely used as a proper name; Buddy Holly, for example, was christened Charles, and Salinger's Buddy Glass was born Webb. Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver did name his fourth child Buddy Bear Maurice--a fittingly named brother to Poppy Honey Rosie, Daisy Boo Pamela and Petal Blossom Rainbow, and singer Tom Fletcher has a double-nicknamed Buddy Bob.
Pronounced BUD-ee.
As of October 2026, Buddy ranked #4418 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #202 in 1935.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,163 | 35 | 18.2 |
| 2015 | #3,896 | 27 | 14.1 |
| 2016 | #3,602 | 30 | 15.8 |
| 2017 | #3,784 | 28 | 15.1 |
| 2018 | #4,381 | 23 | 12.7 |
| 2019 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | #4,159 | 24 | 13.9 |
| 2021 | #3,310 | 35 | 20 |
| 2022 | #3,548 | 32 | 18.3 |
| 2023 | #3,122 | 39 | 22.8 |
| 2024 | #3,795 | 29 | 16.8 |
| 2025 | #4,418 | 23 | 13.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Buddy.
- Buster
- Chip
- Butch
- Buck
- Cutter
- Tex
- Buzz
- Rusty
- Ireland
- Handsome
- Cliff
- Woody
- Rocky
- Jack
- Robb
- Panola
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Halli
- Race
Buddy on lists
Famous Buddys
- Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holly
American rock musician
- George "Buddy" Guy
American blues musician
- Bernard "Buddy" Rich
American jazz drummer
- George Gard "Buddy" DeSylva
American songwriter
- Elzie Wylie "Buddy" Baker
American NASCAR driver
- Christian Ludolf "Buddy" Ebsen
American character actor
- Buddy Hackett (born Leonard Hacker)
American actor/comedian
- Buddy Clark (born Samuel Goldberg)
American pop singer
- Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer
American politician, former governor of Louisiana
- Buddy Rogers
ring name of Herman Gustav Rohde, American pro wrestler
- Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro Jr.
American baker and reality TV personality ("Cake Boss")
- Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro III
son of Cake Boss Buddy Valastro
- Buddy Wayne Knox
American rock singer
- Chavano Rainier "Buddy" Heild
Bahamian basketball player
- Buddy (born Sebastian Erl)
German pop singer
- Buddy Jewell
American country music singer
- Napoleon Buddy D'umo
American choreographer
- Buddy Bear Maurice Oliver
son of chefs Jamie and Jools Oliver
- Buddy Mac Taylor Dawson (b. 2011)
son of actor Ashley Taylor Dawson
- Buddy Bob Fletcher (b. 2016)
son of singer Tom Fletcher & author Giovanna Fletcher
Buddy in pop culture
- Buddy the Elf
main character in movie "Elf"
- Buddy Robinson
character from movie "Get Low"
- Buddy Faith
character in video game "Ace Attorney Investigations"
- Buddy Blue
character in animated series "Rainbow Brite"
- Buddy Bailey
character in "Sims" series
- Buddy Barrett
character in The Babysitters Club series
- Buddy Clark
main character in "Buddy" by Nigel Hinton and a British TV series
- "Buddy
" 1997 film about a gorilla named Buddy
- Buddy Lembeck
character in the TV series "Charles in Charge"
- Buddy Quinn
character from “Just Add Magic”