Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1886

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1886. 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 1886, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1886.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,181,205
2 John 5,103,284
3 Robert 4,823,905
4 Michael 4,399,335
5 William 4,114,574
6 David 3,649,797
7 Joseph 2,631,465
8 Richard 2,568,533
9 Charles 2,388,113
10 Thomas 2,323,598
11 Christopher 2,053,820
12 Daniel 1,953,694
13 Matthew 1,631,879
14 Anthony 1,468,131
15 George 1,449,374
16 Donald 1,413,253
17 Paul 1,392,001
18 Mark 1,357,383
19 Andrew 1,311,235
20 Steven 1,288,978
21 Edward 1,284,666
22 Kenneth 1,280,033
23 Joshua 1,233,106
24 Kevin 1,179,103
25 Brian 1,170,716
26 Ronald 1,080,779
27 Timothy 1,078,418
28 Jason 1,044,820
29 Jeffrey 977,849
30 Jacob 965,479
31 Ryan 952,511
32 Nicholas 916,076
33 Gary 901,476
34 Frank 895,579
35 Eric 884,601
36 Stephen 861,091
37 Jonathan 858,459
38 Larry 806,823
39 Benjamin 793,545
40 Samuel 789,096
41 Justin 785,045
42 Raymond 775,684
43 Scott 773,293
44 Brandon 765,831
45 Jack 729,252
46 Henry 719,311
47 Alexander 711,581
48 Gregory 710,261
49 Patrick 680,523
50 Dennis 619,030

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 1886". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 20, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1886/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1886". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1886/. Accessed 20 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1886. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1886/.