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Between 1954 and 1984 the Social Security Administration occasionally published a listing
of surnames and their popularity in the Report of Distribution of Surnames
in the Social Security Number File. This note expands on that project
by presenting the most popular given names.
The source file is a one percent sample of Social Security Number card applications.
The selection criteria is based on the last four digits of the Social Security
Number, which are random and not correlated with a particular geographical
region. In cases where multiple cards were issued to the same
person, a reason for this might be a lost card or a name change, the name on
the last application was used. This file is not limited to persons born in the
United States but is representative of all Social Security Number card holders.
For purposes of this document, names have not been edited or grouped together
according to spelling variations of the same baby names. People quoting from this
document are urged to explicitly acknowledge this qualification.
Three tabulations are presented in this note.
The first two are an
historical perspective on the three most frequent names for both
sexes for every year of birth
from 1900 to 1997. The third is the 40 most frequent names for boys and girls born in
1996, the most recent year that full
data is available.
- Top 10 given names, by year of birth (1880-1919), and sex.
- Top 10 given names, by year of birth (1920-1959), and sex.
- Top 10 given names, by year of birth (1960-1997), and sex.
- Large list of names for girls born in 1996.
- Large list of names for boys born in 1996.
- Large list of names for girls born in 1997.
- Large list of names for boys born in 1997.
Table 1 displays the three most frequent male given names for each year
of birth from 1900 to 1997. The number to the right of each name indicates the frequency
in the sample per 1,000 births of the same gender.
Table 1 -- Most Frequent Male Names for Years of Birth 1900-97
|
First |
Second |
Third |
Year
of Birth |
Name | Rate |
Name | Rate |
Name | Rate |
| 1900 | John | 62.9 | William | 47.4 | James | 33.4 |
| 1901 | John | 51.9 | William | 51.4 | James | 31.5 |
| 1902 | John | 58.7 | William | 44.3 | James | 34.3 |
| 1903 | John | 54.4 | William | 40.1 | James | 33.1 |
| 1904 | John | 52.5 | William | 41.5 | George, James | 30.9 |
| 1905 | John | 56.7 | William | 42.4 | James | 30.3 |
| 1906 | John | 56.7 | William | 42.0 | James | 31.6 |
| 1907 | John | 53.1 | William | 42.7 | James | 30.6 |
| 1908 | John | 53.4 | William | 39.2 | James | 31.4 |
| 1909 | John | 52.5 | William | 46.0 | James | 35.8 |
| 1910 | John | 49.6 | William | 38.1 | James | 35.8 |
| 1911 | John | 53.1 | William | 42.3 | James | 33.1 |
| 1912 | John | 54.0 | William | 41.2 | James | 34.4 |
| 1913 | John | 50.1 | William | 40.0 | James | 33.5 |
| 1914 | John | 52.4 | William | 39.9 | James | 34.5 |
| 1915 | John | 49.1 | William | 41.9 | James | 34.7 |
| 1916 | John | 54.3 | William | 41.0 | James | 36.1 |
| 1917 | John | 51.9 | William | 44.5 | James | 39.1 |
| 1918 | John | 50.4 | William | 40.6 | Robert | 35.5 |
| 1919 | John | 51.4 | William | 39.1 | James | 37.8 |
| 1920 | John | 46.6 | William | 41.6 | James | 37.9 |
| 1921 | John | 49.8 | Robert | 41.7 | James | 40.4 |
| 1922 | John | 48.8 | Robert | 40.9 | James | 40.6 |
| 1923 | John | 48.3 | Robert | 45.9 | William | 43.8 |
| 1924 | John | 47.8 | Robert | 46.5 | James | 40.7 |
| 1925 | John | 49.3 | Robert | 44.9 | James | 43.1 |
| 1926 | Robert | 47.0 | John | 45.6 | William | 41.4 |
| 1927 | Robert | 46.3 | James | 43.6 | John | 42.7 |
| 1928 | Robert | 46.2 | John | 41.4 | James | 40.4 |
| 1929 | Robert | 48.7 | John | 43.7 | James | 41.3 |
| 1930 | Robert | 45.4 | James | 43.3 | John | 43.2 |
| 1931 | Robert | 49.2 | James | 42.3 | John | 41.2 |
| 1932 | Robert | 49.6 | John | 42.6 | James | 39.6 |
| 1933 | Robert | 46.9 | James | 41.6 | John | 40.9 |
| 1934 | Robert | 43.2 | James | 42.9 | John | 39.0 |
| 1935 | James | 44.5 | Robert | 43.1 | John | 38.2 |
| 1936 | Robert | 46.5 | James | 42.7 | John | 40.0 |
| 1937 | Robert | 46.0 | James | 43.5 | John | 41.0 |
| 1938 | Robert | 47.0 | James | 45.2 | John | 39.4 |
| 1939 | Robert | 44.9 | James | 41.4 | John | 39.7 |
| 1940 | James | 44.5 | Robert | 41.5 | John | 39.9 |
| 1941 | Robert | 44.5 | John | 43.0 | James | 41.6 |
| 1942 | James | 49.1 | Robert | 44.7 | John | 37.8 |
| 1943 | James | 46.0 | Robert | 44.6 | John | 38.5 |
| 1944 | Robert | 44.6 | James | 43.6 | John | 43.5 |
| 1945 | James | 44.4 | Robert | 41.9 | John | 38.9 |
| 1946 | James | 44.8 | Robert | 42.3 | John | 41.5 |
| 1947 | James | 44.4 | John | 44.1 | Robert | 41.9 |
| 1948 | Robert | 41.5 | James | 41.4 | John | 41.3 |
| 1949 | James | 40.2 | Robert | 39.9 | John | 39.6 |
| 1950 | John | 38.7 | James | 38.6 | Robert | 38.4 |
| 1951 | Robert | 38.1 | James | 37.9 | John | 37.6 |
| 1952 | James | 39.1 | Robert | 37.5 | John | 34.2 |
| 1953 | Michael | 37.2 | Robert | 36.6 | James | 36.0 |
| 1954 | Robert | 36.5 | Michael | 35.7 | John | 35.3 |
| 1955 | Michael | 37.5 | James | 34.7 | David, Robert | 34.3 |
| 1956 | Michael | 35.1 | Robert | 33.8 | David | 33.5 |
| 1957 | Michael | 34.7 | James | 33.3 | Robert | 32.2 |
| 1958 | Michael | 34.8 | David | 34.4 | Robert | 31.0 |
| 1959 | Michael | 34.2 | David | 32.0 | James | 31.8 |
| 1960 | David | 34.7 | Michael | 33.3 | John | 29.1 |
| 1961 | David | 34.1 | Michael | 33.6 | John | 30.8 |
| 1962 | Michael | 33.6 | John | 33.1 | David | 31.6 |
| 1963 | David | 33.9 | John, Michael | 33.6 | | |
| 1964 | Michael | 35.5 | John | 33.2 | David | 32.4 |
| 1965 | Michael | 35.7 | James | 31.2 | John | 30.7 |
| 1966 | Michael | 35.1 | David | 31.0 | John | 29.8 |
| 1967 | Michael | 36.8 | David | 29.7 | James | 28.2 |
| 1968 | Michael | 36.3 | David | 30.5 | James | 28.3 |
| 1969 | Michael | 41.1 | David | 28.5 | John | 28.1 |
| 1970 | Michael | 40.9 | David | 29.5 | John | 27.3 |
| 1971 | Michael | 37.3 | John | 27.0 | David | 26.8 |
| 1972 | Michael | 38.7 | Christopher | 26.9 | David | 23.8 |
| 1973 | Michael | 36.1 | Christopher | 26.2 | James | 23.6 |
| 1974 | Michael | 38.3 | Jason | 28.4 | Christopher | 26.1 |
| 1975 | Michael | 38.3 | Christopher | 25.5 | Jason | 25.0 |
| 1976 | Michael | 34.7 | Jason | 26.7 | Christopher | 24.8 |
| 1977 | Michael | 36.9 | Jason | 28.4 | Christopher | 23.6 |
| 1978 | Michael | 36.5 | Jason | 27.3 | Christopher | 25.5 |
| 1979 | Michael | 32.5 | Jason | 26.2 | Christopher | 26.1 |
| 1980 | Michael | 35.0 | Jason | 24.0 | Christopher | 23.4 |
| 1981 | Michael | 32.7 | Christopher | 24.3 | Jason | 22.4 |
| 1982 | Michael | 34.3 | Christopher | 28.7 | Matthew | 22.2 |
| 1983 | Michael | 35.2 | Christopher | 30.3 | Matthew | 24.9 |
| 1984 | Michael | 34.9 | Christopher | 30.7 | Matthew | 23.7 |
| 1985 | Michael | 30.3 | Christopher | 29.2 | Matthew | 22.5 |
| 1986 | Michael | 32.8 | Christopher | 28.2 | Matthew | 22.7 |
| 1987 | Michael | 31.9 | Christopher | 25.3 | Matthew | 20.4 |
| 1988 | Michael | 30.3 | Christopher | 25.3 | Matthew | 22.2 |
| 1989 | Michael | 30.0 | Christopher | 24.2 | Joshua | 20.1 |
| 1990 | Michael | 28.9 | Christopher | 23.3 | Joshua | 19.6 |
| 1991 | Michael | 28.8 | Christopher | 23.0 | Matthew | 19.4 |
| 1992 | Michael | 27.6 | Christopher | 20.3 | Joshua | 16.8 |
| 1993 | Michael | 22.4 | Christopher | 18.1 | Joshua | 16.9 |
| 1994 | Michael | 20.0 | Matthew | 17.4 | Christopher | 16.2 |
| 1995 | Michael | 20.2 | Jacob | 17.1 | Matthew | 15.8 |
| 1996 | Michael | 18.6 | Matthew | 17.4 | Jacob | 16.4 |
| 1997 | Michael | 20.3 | Jacob | 16.0 | Matthew | 15.8 |
Table 2 displays the three most frequent female given names for each year
of birth from 1900 to 1997. The number to the right of each name indicates the frequency
in the sample per 1,000 births of the same gender.
Table 2 -- Most Frequent Female Names for Years of Birth 1900-97
|
First |
Second |
Third |
Year
of Birth |
Name | Rate |
Name | Rate |
Name | Rate |
| 1900 | Mary | 49.2 | Helen | 22.4 | Anna | 21.5 |
| 1901 | Mary | 51.5 | Helen | 23.8 | Anna | 20.7 |
| 1902 | Mary | 48.4 | Helen | 23.0 | Anna | 20.8 |
| 1903 | Mary | 50.5 | Margaret | 21.3 | Helen | 21.0 |
| 1904 | Mary | 53.9 | Helen | 22.4 | Margaret | 20.6 |
| 1905 | Mary | 47.6 | Helen | 25.5 | Margaret | 20.8 |
| 1906 | Mary | 54.5 | Helen | 21.6 | Margaret | 19.4 |
| 1907 | Mary | 50.7 | Helen | 23.8 | Margaret | 20.4 |
| 1908 | Mary | 51.6 | Helen | 23.3 | Margaret | 19.5 |
| 1909 | Mary | 49.7 | Helen | 28.5 | Margaret | 18.8 |
| 1910 | Mary | 50.3 | Helen | 25.5 | Margaret | 20.6 |
| 1911 | Mary | 50.8 | Helen | 25.2 | Dorothy, Margaret | 21.5 |
| 1912 | Mary | 51.2 | Helen | 31.1 | Dorothy | 20.6 |
| 1913 | Mary | 51.2 | Helen | 30.0 | Dorothy | 22.9 |
| 1914 | Mary | 54.2 | Helen | 26.7 | Dorothy | 23.6 |
| 1915 | Mary | 50.5 | Helen | 30.8 | Dorothy | 24.2 |
| 1916 | Mary | 55.2 | Helen | 29.3 | Margaret | 24.5 |
| 1917 | Mary | 54.9 | Helen | 26.7 | Dorothy | 26.0 |
| 1918 | Mary | 51.1 | Helen | 29.3 | Dorothy | 25.3 |
| 1919 | Mary | 51.0 | Helen | 25.6 | Dorothy | 24.0 |
| 1920 | Mary | 49.5 | Dorothy | 27.4 | Helen | 25.8 |
| 1921 | Mary | 57.3 | Dorothy | 25.9 | Helen | 25.3 |
| 1922 | Mary | 54.2 | Dorothy | 26.9 | Helen | 22.8 |
| 1923 | Mary | 52.0 | Dorothy | 29.2 | Helen | 21.8 |
| 1924 | Mary | 49.7 | Dorothy | 25.2 | Helen | 22.8 |
| 1925 | Mary | 53.5 | Dorothy | 27.7 | Betty | 23.0 |
| 1926 | Mary | 51.3 | Dorothy | 25.4 | Helen | 22.1 |
| 1927 | Mary | 49.6 | Betty | 25.8 | Dorothy | 25.0 |
| 1928 | Mary | 51.4 | Betty | 26.8 | Dorothy | 25.5 |
| 1929 | Mary | 46.4 | Betty | 28.7 | Dorothy | 22.9 |
| 1930 | Mary | 50.7 | Betty | 26.6 | Dorothy | 21.7 |
| 1931 | Mary | 48.3 | Betty | 26.6 | Dorothy | 20.1 |
| 1932 | Mary | 44.0 | Betty | 24.0 | Barbara | 21.9 |
| 1933 | Mary | 46.2 | Betty | 25.4 | Barbara | 21.7 |
| 1934 | Mary | 48.9 | Betty | 23.8 | Shirley | 21.0 |
| 1935 | Mary | 46.4 | Shirley | 35.3 | Barbara | 23.1 |
| 1936 | Mary | 46.4 | Shirley | 27.2 | Barbara | 24.7 |
| 1937 | Mary | 44.1 | Barbara | 26.7 | Patricia | 23.2 |
| 1938 | Mary | 41.7 | Barbara | 28.8 | Patricia | 18.9 |
| 1939 | Mary | 39.8 | Barbara | 27.2 | Patricia | 20.8 |
| 1940 | Mary | 39.9 | Barbara | 26.2 | Patricia | 23.2 |
| 1941 | Mary | 38.2 | Barbara | 27.6 | Patricia | 25.0 |
| 1942 | Mary | 41.2 | Barbara | 29.6 | Patricia | 23.6 |
| 1943 | Mary | 41.3 | Barbara | 27.5 | Patricia | 24.8 |
| 1944 | Mary | 39.3 | Barbara | 24.8 | Patricia | 24.4 |
| 1945 | Mary | 36.4 | Linda | 27.4 | Barbara | 25.6 |
| 1946 | Mary | 37.3 | Linda | 28.5 | Patricia | 25.5 |
| 1947 | Linda | 43.7 | Mary | 33.5 | Patricia | 24.8 |
| 1948 | Linda | 47.6 | Mary | 33.9 | Patricia | 23.1 |
| 1949 | Linda | 43.3 | Mary | 35.1 | Patricia | 21.3 |
| 1950 | Linda | 40.4 | Mary | 30.6 | Patricia | 23.4 |
| 1951 | Linda | 31.5 | Mary | 30.5 | Patricia | 25.9 |
| 1952 | Linda | 31.4 | Mary | 30.9 | Patricia | 26.0 |
| 1953 | Mary | 29.1 | Linda | 27.5 | Deborah | 24.5 |
| 1954 | Mary | 28.1 | Deborah | 24.6 | Linda | 22.6 |
| 1955 | Mary | 26.5 | Deborah | 22.4 | Debra, Linda | 22.2 |
| 1956 | Mary | 25.5 | Susan | 21.1 | Debra | 21.0 |
| 1957 | Mary | 25.0 | Susan | 19.2 | Linda | 17.8 |
| 1958 | Mary | 25.0 | Linda | 18.4 | Susan | 18.3 |
| 1959 | Mary | 23.4 | Susan | 16.2 | Linda | 15.9 |
| 1960 | Mary | 21.9 | Susan | 17.1 | Maria | 15.8 |
| 1961 | Mary | 19.0 | Lisa | 16.6 | Susan | 16.0 |
| 1962 | Lisa | 19.7 | Mary | 18.0 | Maria | 15.8 |
| 1963 | Lisa | 21.2 | Mary | 19.7 | Maria | 16.0 |
| 1964 | Lisa | 23.1 | Mary | 18.3 | Maria | 15.4 |
| 1965 | Lisa | 26.5 | Maria | 16.3 | Karen | 15.8 |
| 1966 | Lisa | 26.3 | Maria | 15.8 | Mary | 15.1 |
| 1967 | Lisa | 26.3 | Maria | 15.9 | Kimberly | 15.8 |
| 1968 | Lisa | 22.8 | Michelle | 17.1 | Kimberly | 16.3 |
| 1969 | Lisa | 22.0 | Jennifer | 16.7 | Michelle | 16.1 |
| 1970 | Jennifer | 24.4 | Lisa | 17.2 | Kimberly | 14.9 |
| 1971 | Jennifer | 28.1 | Michelle | 17.5 | Lisa | 16.4 |
| 1972 | Jennifer | 33.2 | Michelle | 16.8 | Lisa | 15.0 |
| 1973 | Jennifer | 35.4 | Michelle | 14.9 | Amy | 14.4 |
| 1974 | Jennifer | 34.2 | Amy | 15.3 | Michelle | 13.5 |
| 1975 | Jennifer | 31.5 | Amy | 18.1 | Michelle | 13.7 |
| 1976 | Jennifer | 34.6 | Amy | 17.2 | Melissa | 14.0 |
| 1977 | Jennifer | 30.0 | Amy | 15.5 | Melissa | 14.5 |
| 1978 | Jennifer | 32.7 | Jessica | 15.4 | Melissa | 14.1 |
| 1979 | Jennifer | 30.4 | Melissa | 16.9 | Amanda | 15.7 |
| 1980 | Jennifer | 30.7 | Jessica | 18.9 | Amanda | 18.3 |
| 1981 | Jennifer | 31.7 | Jessica | 21.7 | Amanda | 18.0 |
| 1982 | Jennifer | 30.6 | Jessica | 26.9 | Amanda | 17.7 |
| 1983 | Jennifer | 28.8 | Jessica | 23.1 | Ashley | 20.3 |
| 1984 | Jennifer | 26.6 | Jessica | 24.5 | Ashley | 19.9 |
| 1985 | Jessica | 24.7 | Ashley | 24.3 | Jennifer | 22.4 |
| 1986 | Jessica | 27.6 | Ashley | 25.4 | Amanda | 19.6 |
| 1987 | Jessica | 28.2 | Ashley | 27.8 | Amanda | 19.7 |
| 1988 | Ashley | 24.5 | Jessica | 22.6 | Amanda | 20.5 |
| 1989 | Jessica | 22.0 | Ashley | 21.3 | Amanda, Brittany | 17.9 |
| 1990 | Jessica | 21.0 | Ashley | 20.8 | Brittany | 16.1 |
| 1991 | Ashley | 22.5 | Jessica | 19.9 | Amanda | 14.6 |
| 1992 | Jessica | 18.9 | Ashley | 16.9 | Sarah | 12.3 |
| 1993 | Jessica | 17.0 | Ashley | 16.5 | Sarah | 13.7 |
| 1994 | Jessica | 16.0 | Ashley | 13.5 | Emily | 11.6 |
| 1995 | Emily | 13.6 | Ashley | 13.4 | Jessica | 13.3 |
| 1996 | Emily | 14.5 | Jessica | 12.0 | Ashley | 11.8 |
| 1997 | Emily | 13.8 | Sarah | 13.3 | Taylor | 10.6 |
Table 3 lists the 40 most popular given names for the year of
birth of 1996. The sample consists of 19,662 girls and 20,264 boys.
The numbers on the left represent rank. The number to the right of each name
represents the frequency per 1,000 births of the same gender.
Several times in this table there were ties in popularity order. In these
cases the order and frequency are given for the first name and left blank
in subsequent names.
Table 3 -- Top 40 Given Names for Year of Birth 1996
| Female | Male |
| Rank | Name | Rate |
|
Rank | Name | Rate |
| 1. | Emily | 14.49 |
| 1. | Michael | 18.56 |
| 2. | Jessica | 11.95 |
| 2. | Matthew | 17.42 |
| 3. | Ashley | 11.80 |
| 3. | Jacob | 16.38 |
| 4. | Sarah | 10.53 |
| 4. | Joshua | 14.61 |
| 5. | Samantha | 10.02 |
| 5. | Christopher | 14.46 |
| 6. | Taylor | 9.00 |
| 6. | Daniel | 13.18 |
| 7. | Hannah | 8.75 |
| 7. | Nicholas | 13.08 |
| 8. | Rachel | 8.65 |
| 8. | Andrew, | 12.68 |
| 9. | Alexis | 8.60 |
| | Tyler | |
| 10. | Megan | 8.29 |
| 10. | Joseph | 12.14 |
| 11. | Elizabeth | 7.93 |
| 11. | Brandon | 12.04 |
| 12. | Kayla | 7.63 |
| 12. | Anthony | 11.65 |
| 13. | Lauren | 6.87 |
| 13. | Austin | 11.60 |
| 14. | Nicole | 6.71 |
| 14. | John | 11.05 |
| 15. | Amanda | 6.41 |
| 15. | James, | 10.91 |
| 16. | Madison | 6.36 |
| | Zachary | |
| 17. | Brittany | 6.05 |
| 17. | David | 10.56 |
| 18. | Stephanie, | 5.90 |
| 18. | Ryan | 10.22 |
| Victoria | |
| 19. | Justin | 9.72 |
| 20. | Alyssa, | 5.65 |
| 20. | Jonathan | 9.52 |
| Amber, | |
| 21. | William | 9.18 |
| Brianna | |
| 22. | Alexander | 8.93 |
| 23. | Courtney, | 5.34 |
| 23. | Robert | 8.69 |
| Jennifer | |
| 24. | Christian | 8.44 |
| 25. | Haley | 5.19 |
| 25. | Kyle | 7.99 |
| 26. | Anna | 5.04 |
| 26. | Kevin | 7.20 |
| 27. | Danielle, | 4.83 |
| 27. | Thomas | 6.81 |
| Olivia | |
| 28. | Aaron | 6.51 |
| 29. | Rebecca | |
| 29. | Jose | 6.46 |
| 30. | Jasmine | 4.73 |
| 30. | Benjamin | 6.42 |
| 31. | Melissa | 4.63 |
| 31. | Cody | 6.12 |
| 32. | Morgan | 4.58 |
| 32. | Eric, | 5.97 |
| 33. | Abigail, | 4.48 |
| | Samuel, | |
| Alexandra | |
| | Steven | |
| 35. | Kimberly | 4.37 |
| 35. | Brian, | 5.87 |
| 36. | Katherine | 4.17 |
| | Jordan | |
| 37. | Allison | 3.92 |
| 37. | Dylan | 5.53 |
| 38. | Mary | 3.71 |
| 38. | Nathan | 5.28 |
| 39. | Brooke, | 3.66 |
| 39. | Adam | 5.03 |
| Sydney | |
| 40. | Richard | 4.93 |
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