By Kelli Brady, NameFreak!
Most of us know that the top names on the Social Security list aren’t given to as many babies as they once were. Here, data whiz Kelli shows how the Number 1 names have become less and less popular through the years, tracing the percentages of babies given the top name from 1880 to now.
YEAR
#1 BOY
PERCENTAGE
#1 GIRL
PERCENTAGE
1880
John
8.1546%
Mary
7.2384%
1881
John
8.0981%
Mary
6.9989%
1882
John
7.8316%
Mary
7.0425%
1883
John
7.9071%
Mary
6.6730%
1884
John
7.6478%
Mary
6.6989%
1885
John
7.5517%
Mary
6.4304%
1886
John
7.5821%
Mary
6.4331%
1887
John
7.4190%
Mary
6.3620%
1888
John
7.1187%
Mary
6.2042%
1889
John
7.1808%
Mary
6.1559%
1890
John
7.1027%
Mary
5.9892%
1891
John
7.0293%
Mary
5.9536%
1892
John
6.8760%
Mary
5.8572%
1893
John
6.6498%
Mary
5.6758%
1894
John
6.5957%
Mary
5.5731%
1895
John
6.5703%
Mary
5.4413%
1896
John
6.3055%
Mary
5.4806%
1897
John
6.1914%
Mary
5.4020%
1898
John
6.1766%
Mary
5.2548%
1899
John
6.0678%
Mary
5.3222%
1900
John
6.0618%
Mary
5.2574%
1901
John
5.9680%
Mary
5.1669%
1902
John
5.9571%
Mary
5.1673%
1903
John
5.8835%
Mary
5.1312%
1904
John
5.8537%
Mary
5.1163%
1905
John
5.6261%
Mary
5.1850%
1906
John
5.7360%
Mary
5.2227%
1907
John
5.6643%
Mary
5.2102%
1908
John
5.6151%
Mary
5.2651%
1909
John
5.4229%
Mary
5.2320%
1910
John
5.4915%
Mary
5.4462%
1911
John
5.5704%
Mary
5.5203%
1912
John
5.4462%
Mary
5.5058%
1913
John
5.4688%
Mary
5.5953%
1914
John
5.5531%
Mary
5.6927%
1915
John
5.4008%
Mary
5.6830%
1916
John
5.4205%
Mary
5.6585%
1917
John
5.4052%
Mary
5.7207%
1918
John
5.3929%
Mary
5.6034%
1919
John
5.2721%
Mary
5.6047%
1920
John
5.1699%
Mary
5.7055%
1921
John
5.1173%
Mary
5.7817%
1922
John
5.0888%
Mary
5.7851%
1923
John
5.0754%
Mary
5.7196%
1924
Robert
5.2006%
Mary
5.6738%
1925
Robert
5.2897%
Mary
5.5901%
1926
Robert
5.3353%
Mary
5.5149%
1927
Robert
5.3082%
Mary
5.7122%
1928
Robert
5.3175%
Mary
5.5940%
1929
Robert
5.4012%
Mary
5.4867%
1930
Robert
5.5016%
Mary
5.4990%
1931
Robert
5.6590%
Mary
5.4646%
1932
Robert
5.5158%
Mary
5.4122%
1933
Robert
5.3145%
Mary
5.3058%
1934
Robert
5.2593%
Mary
5.2590%
1935
Robert
5.2856%
Mary
5.0681%
1936
Robert
5.4963%
Mary
5.0458%
1937
Robert
5.6539%
Mary
5.0506%
1938
Robert
5.4806%
Mary
4.9246%
1939
Robert
5.2635%
Mary
4.8419%
1940
James
5.2667%
Mary
4.7582%
1941
James
5.3185%
Mary
4.6577%
1942
James
5.4808%
Mary
4.5487%
1943
James
5.5183%
Mary
4.6105%
1944
James
5.5402%
Mary
4.5719%
1945
James
5.4288%
Mary
4.4042%
1946
James
5.2990%
Mary
4.1829%
1947
James
5.1009%
Linda
5.4838%
1948
James
4.9702%
Linda
5.5205%
1949
James
4.8213%
Linda
5.1845%
1950
James
4.7384%
Linda
4.5729%
1951
James
4.5656%
Linda
4.0038%
1952
James
4.4113%
Linda
3.5264%
1953
Robert
4.3065%
Mary
3.3359%
1954
Michael
4.2795%
Mary
3.4156%
1955
Michael
4.2272%
Mary
3.1514%
1956
Michael
4.2254%
Mary
2.9986%
1957
Michael
4.2380%
Mary
2.9128%
1958
Michael
4.2036%
Mary
2.7043%
1959
Michael
3.9369%
Mary
2.6210%
1960
David
3.9670%
Mary
2.4748%
1961
Michael
4.0319%
Mary
2.2958%
1962
Michael
4.0451%
Lisa
2.2737%
1963
Michael
4.0571%
Lisa
2.8190%
1964
Michael
4.0774%
Lisa
2.7733%
1965
Michael
4.2761%
Lisa
3.2981%
1966
Michael
4.4009%
Lisa
3.2421%
1967
Michael
4.6323%
Lisa
3.0544%
1968
Michael
4.6179%
Lisa
2.8975%
1969
Michael
4.6559%
Lisa
2.5550%
1970
Michael
4.4766%
Jennifer
2.5199%
1971
Michael
4.2678%
Jennifer
3.2409%
1972
Michael
4.2647%
Jennifer
3.9446%
1973
Michael
4.2039%
Jennifer
4.0192%
1974
Michael
4.1443%
Jennifer
4.0297%
1975
Michael
4.2181%
Jennifer
3.7283%
1976
Michael
4.1012%
Jennifer
3.7841%
1977
Michael
3.9549%
Jennifer
3.5851%
1978
Michael
3.9299%
Jennifer
3.4263%
1979
Michael
3.7808%
Jennifer
3.2920%
1980
Michael
3.7032%
Jennifer
3.2804%
1981
Michael
3.6928%
Jennifer
3.1906%
1982
Michael
3.6151%
Jennifer
3.1492%
1983
Michael
3.6506%
Jennifer
3.0377%
1984
Michael
3.6108%
Jennifer
2.8051%
1985
Michael
3.3742%
Jessica
2.6200%
1986
Michael
3.3424%
Jessica
2.8551%
1987
Michael
3.2651%
Jessica
2.9886%
1988
Michael
3.2043%
Jessica
2.6811%
1989
Michael
3.1210%
Jessica
2.4045%
1990
Michael
3.0351%
Jessica
2.2627%
1991
Michael
2.8687%
Ashley
2.1393%
1992
Michael
2.5916%
Ashley
1.9188%
1993
Michael
2.4003%
Jessica
1.7750%
1994
Michael
2.1825%
Jessica
1.6481%
1995
Michael
2.0596%
Jessica
1.4546%
1996
Michael
1.9155%
Emily
1.3124%
1997
Michael
1.8804%
Emily
1.3484%
1998
Michael
1.8066%
Emily
1.3512%
1999
Jacob
1.7346%
Emily
1.3639%
2000
Jacob
1.6516%
Emily
1.3015%
2001
Jacob
1.5736%
Emily
1.2657%
2002
Jacob
1.4797%
Emily
1.2394%
2003
Jacob
1.4104%
Emily
1.2813%
2004
Jacob
1.3201%
Emily
1.2415%
2005
Jacob
1.2148%
Emily
1.1803%
2006
Jacob
1.1334%
Emily
1.0244%
2007
Jacob
1.0962%
Emily
0.9150%
2008
Jacob
1.0363%
Emma
0.9040%
2009
Jacob
0.9981%
Isabella
1.1021%
2010
Jacob
1.0770%
Isabella
1.1698%
2011
Jacob
1.0024%
Sophia
1.1293%
2012
Jacob
0.9404%
Sophia
1.1531%
2013
Noah
0.9043%
Sophia
1.1039%
While starting out as less so, the boy names used are becoming more and more diverse. Only nine out of every 1,000 boys were named Noah in 2013, which is why we were surprised to hear it is #1.
The popularity of Isabella and Sophia have made it not as various on the girls side, after Emma took over with a “low” percentage in 2008, but there is still a general movement away from top names.
Another way to make the point…
1
Noah
0.9043%
Sophia
1.1039%
2
Liam
0.8999%
Emma
1.0888%
3
Jacob
0.8986%
Olivia
0.9562%
4
Mason
0.8793%
Isabella
0.9161%
5
William
0.8246%
Ava
0.7924%
6
Ethan
0.8062%
Mia
0.6844%
7
Michael
0.7681%
Emily
0.6832%
8
Alexander
0.7384%
Abigail
0.6449%
9
Jayden
0.7326%
Madison
0.5515%
10
Daniel
0.7068%
Elizabeth
0.4895%
8.1588%
7.9109%
The total percentages of use of the Top 10 boys and girls in 2013 are almost the exact same percentages of use of 1880’s #1s John and Mary alone.
Yay for numbers! And yay for variety!
Originally posted at NameFreak! on May 21, 2014 and revised for Nameberry.