Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1882

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1882. 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 1882, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1882.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,191,160
2 John 5,131,949
3 Robert 4,829,478
4 Michael 4,391,877
5 William 4,137,918
6 David 3,645,101
7 Joseph 2,634,126
8 Richard 2,569,676
9 Charles 2,401,542
10 Thomas 2,326,897
11 Christopher 2,048,602
12 Daniel 1,946,964
13 Matthew 1,625,277
14 George 1,466,318
15 Anthony 1,462,191
16 Donald 1,413,057
17 Paul 1,392,280
18 Mark 1,356,314
19 Andrew 1,308,622
20 Edward 1,292,316
21 Steven 1,287,715
22 Kenneth 1,278,854
23 Joshua 1,228,149
24 Kevin 1,177,043
25 Brian 1,169,546
26 Ronald 1,080,267
27 Timothy 1,076,865
28 Jason 1,042,300
29 Jeffrey 977,177
30 Jacob 959,346
31 Ryan 948,139
32 Nicholas 912,725
33 Frank 907,322
34 Gary 901,264
35 Eric 883,100
36 Stephen 860,844
37 Jonathan 854,379
38 Larry 806,617
39 Benjamin 784,662
40 Samuel 784,527
41 Justin 782,993
42 Raymond 775,792
43 Scott 773,012
44 Brandon 764,068
45 Jack 721,445
46 Henry 717,932
47 Gregory 709,664
48 Alexander 703,761
49 Patrick 679,721
50 Walter 622,489

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 1882". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 25, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1882/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1882". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1882/. Accessed 25 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1882. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1882/.