Ransom
About Ransom
Ransom may be rakish and handsome, but it carries an unavoidable association with holding someone for ransom. But that kind of bad boy image might be exactly what attracts you to Ransom in the first place.
While Ransom feels like a modern appellation ala Breaker or Ranger, it's interesting to note on the popularity chart that it was actually quite popular at the end of the 19th century but fell off the Top 1000 around 1930.
As of October 2026, Ransom ranked #1695 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #464 in 1882.
Editor's take: The name Ransom is a boy's name of English origin meaning "shield's son".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,664 | 93 | 48.4 |
| 2015 | #1,576 | 103 | 53.7 |
| 2016 | #1,530 | 110 | 58 |
| 2017 | #1,609 | 100 | 54 |
| 2018 | #1,914 | 78 | 42.9 |
| 2019 | #1,993 | 74 | 41.2 |
| 2020 | #1,597 | 102 | 59.1 |
| 2021 | #1,642 | 102 | 58.3 |
| 2022 | #1,594 | 111 | 63.6 |
| 2023 | #1,645 | 105 | 61.4 |
| 2024 | #1,668 | 101 | 58.6 |
| 2025 | #1,695 | 97 | 56.8 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ransom.
Famous Ransoms
- Ransom Riggs
American novelist
- Ransom Eli Olds
American automaker; founder of Oldsmobile
- Ransom Aldrich "Ram" Myers
American biologist
- Ransom Asa Moore
American agronomist
- Ransom Wilson
American flutist
- Ransom Ashley
photographer and actor
- Stewart Ransom "Rhett" Miller
lead singer of American band The Old 97s
- Bodhi Ransom Green
son of American actors Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green
- Cody Ransom
American baseball player
- Terrell Louis Ransom
Jr., American actor
Ransom in pop culture
- Elwin Ransom
main character in the "Space Trilogy" by C.S. Lewis
- Ransom Stoddard
character in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance"
- Justin "Ransom" Oluransi
character in the web comic "Check, Please!"
- Hugh Ransom Drysdale
known as Ransom, from the film "Knives Out"