Advanced Search
← All posts

'Popular' Names Aren't as Popular as They Used to Be

An interactive chart of the top 100 names over the years. Explore how a top 10 or top 100 name now represents a much smaller share of the name pool than it did in past generations.

Every year the US Social Security Administration releases its latest baby name data, and most of the attention goes straight to the rankings: the No. 1 girl name (Olivia, again), the No. 1 boy name (Liam, again), the top 10, the top 100, etc. etc.

And the rankings are definitely useful - they are simple, intuitive, and easy to compare from year to year. But as American baby naming has become more diverse, the same rank now represents a much smaller share of births than it did in the past, and talking in terms of ranks alone may not tell the full story.

This matters because parents often use the rankings as a shortcut for deciding whether a name is “too popular.” They worry their child will be one of three Olivias, Liams, or Theodores in the same classroom. And they still could be (localized trends also play a huge role), but nationally, the most popular names are far less dominant than they used to be.

In 1950, 78% of boys and 68% of girls were given a top 100 name. By 1985, that had fallen to 66% of boys and 52% of girls. And by 2025, only 38% of boys and 32% of girls received a top 100 name.

Explore charts below to see how dramatically name concentration has declined over time, and why rank alone can make modern names appear more common than they really are.

Gender
Top N names
Measure
Years 1880 – 2025

Today's top 100, against history

Today's Olivia isn't the same as 1990's Jessica - it's actually more like an Amber.

Use the graph below to explore how today's top 100 compares to names in previous years in terms of the % share of births.

Top 100 in 2025Top 100 in 1950#1 0.84% Olivia#2 0.83% Charlotte#3 0.79% Emma#4 0.79% Amelia#5 0.78% Sophia#6 0.69% Mia#7 0.66% Isabella#8 0.57% Evelyn#9 0.51% Sofia#10 0.51% Eliana#11 0.48% Ava#12 0.48% Eleanor#13 0.47% Violet#14 0.44% Ailany#15 0.44% Aurora#16 0.42% Harper#17 0.42% Elizabeth#18 0.42% Lily#19 0.41% Camila#20 0.40% Nora#21 0.39% Hazel#22 0.39% Penelope#23 0.39% Chloe#24 0.38% Ellie#25 0.38% Lucy#26 0.38% Aria#27 0.38% Luna#28 0.37% Isla#29 0.36% Ella#30 0.36% Lainey#31 0.35% Zoe#32 0.35% Scarlett#33 0.35% Gianna#34 0.34% Emily#35 0.33% Valentina#36 0.33% Layla#37 0.33% Avery#38 0.32% Grace#39 0.32% Ivy#40 0.31% Madison#41 0.31% Abigail#42 0.30% Elena#43 0.30% Mila#44 0.30% Willow#45 0.29% Emilia#46 0.29% Nova#47 0.29% Naomi#48 0.28% Riley#49 0.26% Eloise#50 0.26% Sadie#51 0.26% Delilah#52 0.26% Stella#53 0.26% Josephine#54 0.25% Victoria#55 0.25% Sophie#56 0.25% Hannah#57 0.25% Lillian#58 0.24% Leah#59 0.24% Adeline#60 0.24% Leilani#61 0.23% Iris#62 0.23% Maya#63 0.22% Clara#64 0.22% Ruby#65 0.22% Alice#66 0.22% Genesis#67 0.22% Paisley#68 0.22% Claire#69 0.21% Zoey#70 0.21% Eden#71 0.21% Madelyn#72 0.21% Vivian#73 0.21% Millie#74 0.20% Emery#75 0.20% Daisy#76 0.20% Maeve#77 0.20% Ayla#78 0.19% Liliana#79 0.19% Melody#80 0.19% Lyla#81 0.19% Madeline#82 0.19% Josie#83 0.19% Lucia#84 0.18% Addison#85 0.18% Kennedy#86 0.18% Audrey#87 0.18% Maria#88 0.17% Autumn#89 0.17% Natalie#90 0.17% Sarah#91 0.17% Everly#92 0.17% Lydia#93 0.17% Kinsley#94 0.17% Sienna#95 0.17% Jade#96 0.16% Caroline#97 0.16% Quinn#98 0.16% Amara#99 0.16% Georgia#100 0.16% JuniperLinda #1 4.70%Mary #2 3.82%Patricia #3 2.80%Barbara #4 2.43%Susan #5 2.22%Nancy #6 1.73%Deborah #7 1.70%Sandra #8 1.69%Carol #9 1.53%Kathleen #10 1.50%Sharon #11 1.44%Karen #12 1.41%Donna #13 1.26%Brenda #14 1.21%Margaret #15 1.06%Diane #16 1.03%Pamela #17 0.95%Janet #18 0.95%Shirley #19 0.93%Carolyn #20 0.91%Judith #21 0.90%Janice #22 0.88%Cynthia #23 0.84%Elizabeth #24 0.84%Judy #25 0.83%Betty #26 0.79%Joyce #27 0.78%Christine #28 0.74%Cheryl #29 0.69%Gloria #30 0.64%Beverly #31 0.61%Martha #32 0.57%Bonnie #33 0.57%Catherine #34 0.56%Dorothy #35 0.56%Rebecca #36 0.55%Marilyn #37 0.54%Kathy #38 0.53%Jane #39 0.52%Joan #40 0.52%Peggy #41 0.50%Gail #42 0.49%Virginia #43 0.49%Connie #44 0.48%Ann #45 0.46%Kathryn #46 0.46%Diana #47 0.43%Jean #48 0.43%Ruth #49 0.42%Helen #50 0.41%Frances #51 0.41%Wanda #52 0.40%Phyllis #53 0.39%Paula #54 0.39%Jacqueline #55 0.38%Rita #56 0.37%Alice #57 0.37%Katherine #58 0.36%Debra #59 0.36%Elaine #60 0.35%Vicki #61 0.34%Sherry #62 0.34%Laura #63 0.33%Jo #64 0.33%Theresa #65 0.33%Ellen #66 0.32%Joanne #67 0.32%Marsha #68 0.32%Rose #69 0.31%Sheila #70 0.31%Suzanne #71 0.31%Marie #72 0.30%Maria #73 0.30%Doris #74 0.29%Cathy #75 0.29%Lynn #76 0.29%Marcia #77 0.29%Sally #78 0.28%Darlene #79 0.28%Charlotte #80 0.28%Teresa #81 0.28%Denise #82 0.26%Lois #83 0.26%Anne #84 0.26%Constance #85 0.26%Evelyn #86 0.25%Glenda #87 0.25%Sarah #88 0.24%Maureen #89 0.24%Dianne #90 0.23%Eileen #91 0.23%Irene #92 0.22%Anna #93 0.22%Victoria #94 0.22%Jeanne #95 0.22%Roberta #96 0.21%Sylvia #97 0.21%Joann #98 0.21%Anita #99 0.21%Sue #100 0.20%

Data: U.S. Social Security Administration baby names, 1880–2025. Shares are computed against all names the SSA published for each gender/year (names given to fewer than 5 babies are excluded for privacy, so they don't appear in the denominator).