Given name & surname
Piper
“one who plays the flute”
Piper is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “one who plays the flute.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “one who plays the flute.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1951. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Piper through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 62,934
- 216 boys · 62,718 girls
- Most popular year
- 2015
- 4,154 babies
- 2025
- 1,940
- #155 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −34%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 1,940 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 155 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 33.9% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 4,140 in 2015. In 2025, Texas had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (140). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 46,877 as a first name in 2020; 21,405 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Piper’s family of names
Piper has a related form in Pyper. Piper has a related form in Pepperell. Piper has a related form in Pipere.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 18
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Piper
- Piper LaurieAmerican actress (1932–2023)
- Piper PeraboAmerican actressborn 1976
- Piper CurdaAmerican actressborn 1997
- Piper GillesAmerican-Canadian ice dancerborn 1992
- Piper KermanAmerican felon and authorborn 1969
- Piper LoganCanadian rugby sevens playerborn 2001
- Piper Mackenzie HarrisAmerican actressborn 2000
- Piper ReeseAmerican kid's entertainment reporter and broadcasterborn 2000
- Piper KellyAmerican speed climber (born 1999)
Characters named Piper: Piper Halliwell (Charmed), Piper Chapman (Orange is the New Black).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Piper, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Paisley
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Harper
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Skylar
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Ember
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Poppy
“resembling the red flower”
>99% girls