Most Popular Baby Names

Description

This tool lists the most popular boy and girl baby names in a searchable and sortable table and displays them in rank order of most popular to least popular.
This tool is useful if you or someone you know is expecting a baby and would like to see what are the most popular baby names for both male and females.
The list of names are based on the top 1000 baby names.
This tool also lets you export the list of popular baby names to CSV or JSON.

Facts

In some countries, there are strict rules around baby names. For example, in Iceland, parents are required to choose from a list of approved names, and in Malaysia, names that are considered offensive or inappropriate are banned.
The popularity of baby names can be cyclical. For example, the name Ava was very popular in the early 1900s, then fell out of favor, but has become popular again in recent years.
Baby names can be a way for parents to express their creativity and individuality. Some parents even invent their own names for their babies, or choose names from fictional works such as "Harry Potter" or "Star Wars."
In some cultures, a baby's name may be chosen based on the day of the week or the time of year they were born. August and April are relatively common names based on the name of the month a baby was born in.
In many European countries, there is a preference for traditional or classic names, such as Elizabeth, James, or Sophie.
In some countries, there is a trend towards using more unique or unconventional names, such as Luna, Milo, or Aurora.
Biblical names are always popular such as David, Sarah, Daniel, Noah, Jacob, and Abigail.
Baby names may be chosen based on astrological or numerological beliefs, such as choosing a name that corresponds to a certain zodiac sign or lucky number.
There is a trend towards using names with a connection to nature, such as River, Meadow, or Forest.
Baby names may be chosen based on historical or literary figures, such as naming a child after a famous artist, writer, or philosopher.
Some European countries have a tradition of using nicknames as official given names, such as Charlie, Alfie, or Tess.
In America, there is a tradition of using surnames as given names, such as Taylor, Madison, or Logan.

Definitions and scope

This table pairs ranked male and female baby-name entries from the United States Social Security Administration dataset used by this page.

The snapshot is 2021 data, not a live ranking. SSA records names from Social Security card applications and publishes separate rankings by sex as recorded in its data.

Worked example

At rank 1, the loaded snapshot shows Liam in the male-name column and Olivia in the female-name column. Rank compares entries within each SSA list; it does not mean equal birth counts across columns.

Assumptions and limitations

Rankings apply to United States births represented in SSA records for one year. Spelling variants rank separately, and a top-1,000 table omits less frequent names.

Do not treat popularity as meaning, pronunciation, cultural origin, future popularity, or endorsement. Current rankings may differ from this archived snapshot.

Common mistakes

Common mistakes include describing 2021 data as current, comparing ranks across years without counts, and assuming similar spellings represent the same name.

Privacy and accuracy

The table is loaded from a static local data file and requires no visitor input. Source records are aggregate name statistics and do not identify individual children.