Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1881

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1881. These names are taken directly from the Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the United States.

The table below shows the top 50 most popular baby boy names since 1881, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1881.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,196,601
2 John 5,140,718
3 Robert 4,831,618
4 Michael 4,392,175
5 William 4,146,442
6 David 3,645,851
7 Joseph 2,636,582
8 Richard 2,570,317
9 Charles 2,406,178
10 Thomas 2,329,179
11 Christopher 2,048,670
12 Daniel 1,947,491
13 Matthew 1,625,357
14 George 1,470,982
15 Anthony 1,462,319
16 Donald 1,413,084
17 Paul 1,392,571
18 Mark 1,356,408
19 Andrew 1,309,210
20 Edward 1,294,493
21 Steven 1,287,730
22 Kenneth 1,278,883
23 Joshua 1,228,189
24 Kevin 1,177,043
25 Brian 1,169,546
26 Ronald 1,080,267
27 Timothy 1,076,928
28 Jason 1,042,322
29 Jeffrey 977,177
30 Jacob 959,727
31 Ryan 948,139
32 Nicholas 912,781
33 Frank 910,156
34 Gary 901,270
35 Eric 883,109
36 Stephen 860,991
37 Jonathan 854,400
38 Larry 806,625
39 Samuel 785,446
40 Benjamin 785,143
41 Justin 783,000
42 Raymond 775,987
43 Scott 773,063
44 Brandon 764,068
45 Jack 721,642
46 Henry 720,271
47 Gregory 709,670
48 Alexander 703,970
49 Patrick 679,909
50 Walter 624,159

More Popular Baby Names

You can also use the links below to research more about the most popular baby names.

Top 1000 most popular boy names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Top 1000 most popular girl names: 1-250 | 251-500 | 501-750 | 751-1000

Historical Data for Baby Names

If you're interested to see how the trends and popularity of baby names have changed, you can use the links below to view the historical data by decade.

Most popular first names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular boy names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Most popular girl names, 1880-present | since 1950 | since 1960 | since 1970 | since 1980 | since 1990 | since 2000 | since 2010

Data Source(s)

All of the data on this page is sourced from the Social Security Administration (SSA) and excludes any names with fewer than 5 occurrences in any geographic area.

Link To or Reference This Page

We spent a lot of time downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1881". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 24, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1881/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1881". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1881/. Accessed 24 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1881. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1881/.