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 5,169,177
2 John 5,095,354
3 Robert 4,819,854
4 Michael 4,390,506
5 William 4,103,292
6 David 3,642,056
7 Joseph 2,623,694
8 Richard 2,566,860
9 Charles 2,382,224
10 Thomas 2,317,133
11 Christopher 2,048,285
12 Daniel 1,944,647
13 Matthew 1,624,854
14 Anthony 1,461,577
15 George 1,446,754
16 Donald 1,412,851
17 Paul 1,390,675
18 Mark 1,355,963
19 Andrew 1,306,111
20 Steven 1,287,639
21 Edward 1,282,930
22 Kenneth 1,278,736
23 Joshua 1,227,960
24 Kevin 1,177,043
25 Brian 1,169,546
26 Ronald 1,080,250
27 Timothy 1,076,591
28 Jason 1,042,226
29 Jeffrey 977,172
30 Jacob 957,876
31 Ryan 948,139
32 Nicholas 912,453
33 Gary 901,242
34 Frank 894,875
35 Eric 883,052
36 Stephen 860,180
37 Jonathan 854,284
38 Larry 806,560
39 Justin 782,978
40 Benjamin 782,703
41 Samuel 780,754
42 Raymond 774,722
43 Scott 772,809
44 Brandon 764,068
45 Jack 720,363
46 Gregory 709,654
47 Henry 708,090
48 Alexander 702,908
49 Patrick 678,820
50 Dennis 618,613

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 March 24, 2023. 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 24 March, 2023

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