By Kelli Brady, NameFreak!

　　Ever wonder which name has been given the most overall? Of course I have! To satisfy my curiosity on the matter, I totaled the raw numbers of all names ever recorded by the SSA since the data has been collected (1880). I must say the results are very interesting!

　　Since more than 38,000 names have been given to boys and 64,000 names have been given to girls over the years, it is not possible for me to include all of them here. What I did include are the top 25 names as well as any of the #1 names not included in the top 25 and those that have been in the Top 100 every year since 1880.

　　Symbols:* Has been #1\+ Has been in Top 100 every year since 1880

　　GIRLS

　　1

　　Mary*

　　4112231

　　2

　　Elizabeth+

　　1591239

　　3

　　Patricia

　　1570091

　　4

　　Jennifer*

　　1461125

　　5

　　Linda*

　　1450258

　　6

　　Barbara

　　1432454

　　7

　　Margaret

　　1237972

　　8

　　Susan

　　1120028

　　9

　　Dorothy

　　1105244

　　10

　　Sarah

　　1055682

　　11

　　Jessica*

　　1038686

　　12

　　Helen

　　1015038

　　13

　　Nancy

　　1000497

　　14

　　Betty

　　  998601

　　15

　　Karen

　　  983128

　　16

　　Lisa*

　　  963508

　　17

　　Sandra

　　  872028

　　18

　　Anna

　　  867903

　　19

　　Ashley*

　　  831067

　　20

　　Donna

　　  830074

　　21

　　Kimberly

　　  825168

　　22

　　Ruth

　　  818934

　　23

　　Carol

　　  815573

　　24

　　Michelle

　　  802684

　　25

　　Emily*

　　  795955

　　46

　　Emma*

　　  572797

　　134

　　Sophia*

　　  268598

　　145

　　Isabella*

　　  257611

　　Mary at #1 is no surprise, but the amount of Marys in comparison to the rest of the names might be. Elizabeth is #2, even though she has never ranked #1. She is, however, the only girl name that has been in the Top 100 every year since 1880. But what about Patricia!? She never ranked higher than #3 in the SSA rankings and hasn’t been consistently near the top the entire 134 years, but still comes in at #3. Jennifer at #4 is pretty astounding considering the name wasn’t even used until 1916. Ashley also wasn’t consistently given until the 1940s. The numbers of recent #1s Sophia and Isabella show that while they may seem to be everywhere now, they are definitely the new kids on the block.

　　BOYS

　　1

　　James*+

　　5090707

　　2

　　John*+

　　5073505

　　3

　　Robert*+

　　4789390

　　4

　　Michael*+

　　4293031

　　5

　　William+

　　4038015

　　6

　　David*+

　　3564806

　　7

　　Joseph+

　　2557478

　　8

　　Richard

　　2552110

　　9

　　Charles+

　　2356638

　　10

　　Thomas+

　　2275664

　　11

　　Christopher

　　1984039

　　12

　　Daniel+

　　1854313

　　13

　　Matthew

　　1539934

　　14

　　George

　　1451300

　　15

　　Donald

　　1408009

　　16

　　Anthony

　　1391262

　　17

　　Paul

　　1378834

　　18

　　Mark

　　1341435

　　19

　　Edward

　　1278445

　　20

　　Steven

　　1270194

　　21

　　Kenneth

　　1264520

　　22

　　Andrew+

　　1244448

　　23

　　Joshua

　　1163596

　　24

　　Brian

　　1155323

　　25

　　Kevin

　　1147119

　　35

　　Jacob*

　　  858101

　　43

　　Samuel+

　　  706532

　　105

　　Noah*

　　  298307

　　I was shocked to see James ahead of John! They have both been at the top pretty consistently, but I guess John has fallen slightly harder than James. Quite frankly, this entire list is a bit astonishing. The boys have a lot of names that have been in the Top 100 every year since 1880, but you see Richard well ahead several of those names (Richard was firmly in the Top 100 until it fell out after 2007). Brian is relatively high considering it wasn’t even given in the United States until 1900, and Samuel is another constant name that just never spiked. The most recent #1, Noah, is a relative newby.

　　All of this is also more proof that parents are choosing more of a variety of names nowadays; #1 names are not as widely used currently as they were in the past. And if you compare the girl numbers with the boy numbers, it also shows that parents are much more willing to go with a less common name for their daughter than for their son.

　　What do you think? Anything particular surprise you?

　　Originally posted at NameFreak! on May 14, 2014 and revised for Nameberry.