Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1887

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1887. 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 1887, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1887.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,175,850
2 John 5,094,258
3 Robert 4,821,462
4 Michael 4,398,987
5 William 4,106,322
6 David 3,649,123
7 Joseph 2,628,871
8 Richard 2,567,813
9 Charles 2,383,580
10 Thomas 2,321,261
11 Christopher 2,053,754
12 Daniel 1,953,139
13 Matthew 1,631,767
14 Anthony 1,467,957
15 George 1,444,703
16 Donald 1,413,196
17 Paul 1,391,535
18 Mark 1,357,277
19 Andrew 1,310,621
20 Steven 1,288,958
21 Edward 1,282,354
22 Kenneth 1,279,995
23 Joshua 1,233,051
24 Kevin 1,179,103
25 Brian 1,170,716
26 Ronald 1,080,766
27 Timothy 1,078,344
28 Jason 1,044,799
29 Jeffrey 977,849
30 Jacob 965,133
31 Ryan 952,511
32 Nicholas 915,991
33 Gary 901,469
34 Frank 892,452
35 Eric 884,591
36 Stephen 860,910
37 Jonathan 858,440
38 Larry 806,800
39 Benjamin 793,082
40 Samuel 788,226
41 Justin 785,037
42 Raymond 775,331
43 Scott 773,251
44 Brandon 765,831
45 Jack 728,953
46 Henry 716,907
47 Alexander 711,375
48 Gregory 710,254
49 Patrick 680,274
50 Dennis 618,932

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 1887". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 24, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1887/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1887". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1887/. Accessed 24 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1887. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1887/.