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The #1 Baby Names: How popular are they?
The #1 Baby Names: How popular are they?
Nov 23, 2024 11:40 PM

  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.

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