Given name & surname
Promise
“a faithful woman”
Promise is used as a given name and a surname. One American interpretation is “a faithful woman.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One American interpretation is “a faithful woman.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is American.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1975. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Promise through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,838
- 412 boys · 6,426 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 422 babies
- 2025
- 348
- #826 for girls · #5,343 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +30%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 330 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 826 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 30.6% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 18 birth records for boys in 2025. In 2025, Florida had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (35). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 3,857 as a first name in 2020; 264 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.
Promise’s family of names
Promise has a related form in Promyse. Promise has a related form in Promice. Promise has a related form in Promis.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 7
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 7
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Promise
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Promise, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Eternity
“lasting forever”
>99% girls
Mystery
“a lady of the unknown” · “a man of the unknown”
>99% girls
Prairie
“from the flatlands”
>99% girls
Zaylee
“a heavenly woman”
>99% girls
Aira
“of the wind”
>99% girls
Maylin
“of the wondrous waterfall”
>99% girls
Fable
“one who tells stories”
12% boys · 88% girls
Wynter
“born during the winter”
2% boys · 98% girls