Given name & surname · also Old French
Power
“poor”
Power is a surname from Old French, ultimately from Middle English.
Meaning & origin
What it means
Power goes back to Middle English povre, meaning “poor.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
Power comes from Old French, and ultimately from Middle English.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
From Old French Poer,Pohier, from Middle English Poer,Pouer,Power, from Middle English povre (“poor”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2013. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Power through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 163
- 141 boys · 22 girls
- Most popular year
- 2022
- 31 babies
- 2025
- 9
- #8,752 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +160%
- Rising fast
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 9 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 8,752 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 148.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 127 as a first name in 2020; 14,550 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.
Power’s family of names
In English usage, Power as a surname is a nickname for POOR. In English usage, Power as a surname has a conventional equivalent in the Russian form Па́уэр. In English usage, Power as a surname has a conventional equivalent in the Arabic form قوة.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Power has relatives in 3 languages. Lines run from its Middle English roots to each of them.
3 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Power
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Power, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Roper
“one who makes rope”
98% boys · 2% girls
Salter
“player of psaltery”
>99% boys
Preacher
Preacher is a masculine given name from English.
>99% boys
Winchester
“Venta of the Belgae”
>99% boys
Messer
“knife”
>99% boys
Ripper
“basket”
>99% boys
Gulliver
“glutton”
>99% boys
Mister
Mister is a given name from Old French, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European.
>99% boys