Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1885

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1885. 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 1885, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1885.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,186,380
2 John 5,112,040
3 Robert 4,826,227
4 Michael 4,399,705
5 William 4,122,618
6 David 3,650,509
7 Joseph 2,634,005
8 Richard 2,569,205
9 Charles 2,392,712
10 Thomas 2,325,864
11 Christopher 2,053,891
12 Daniel 1,954,229
13 Matthew 1,631,990
14 Anthony 1,468,284
15 George 1,454,048
16 Donald 1,413,300
17 Paul 1,392,429
18 Mark 1,357,457
19 Andrew 1,311,834
20 Steven 1,288,999
21 Edward 1,286,886
22 Kenneth 1,280,074
23 Joshua 1,233,149
24 Kevin 1,179,103
25 Brian 1,170,716
26 Ronald 1,080,779
27 Timothy 1,078,482
28 Jason 1,044,836
29 Jeffrey 977,854
30 Jacob 965,822
31 Ryan 952,511
32 Nicholas 916,142
33 Gary 901,483
34 Frank 898,646
35 Eric 884,617
36 Stephen 861,249
37 Jonathan 858,489
38 Larry 806,842
39 Benjamin 794,009
40 Samuel 789,984
41 Justin 785,054
42 Raymond 775,992
43 Scott 773,345
44 Brandon 765,831
45 Jack 729,547
46 Henry 721,717
47 Alexander 711,786
48 Gregory 710,266
49 Patrick 680,740
50 Dennis 619,142

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 1885". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 18, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1885/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1885". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1885/. Accessed 18 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1885. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1885/.