Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1888

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1888. 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 1888, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1888.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,159,054
2 John 5,078,218
3 Robert 4,815,286
4 Michael 4,389,814
5 William 4,087,570
6 David 3,640,709
7 Joseph 2,618,644
8 Richard 2,565,518
9 Charles 2,373,660
10 Thomas 2,312,645
11 Christopher 2,048,163
12 Daniel 1,943,536
13 Matthew 1,624,634
14 Anthony 1,461,250
15 George 1,437,799
16 Donald 1,412,734
17 Paul 1,389,760
18 Mark 1,355,781
19 Andrew 1,304,977
20 Steven 1,287,604
21 Kenneth 1,278,663
22 Edward 1,278,493
23 Joshua 1,227,864
24 Kevin 1,177,043
25 Brian 1,169,546
26 Ronald 1,080,229
27 Timothy 1,076,463
28 Jason 1,042,191
29 Jeffrey 977,172
30 Jacob 957,213
31 Ryan 948,139
32 Nicholas 912,289
33 Gary 901,228
34 Frank 888,865
35 Eric 883,031
36 Stephen 859,834
37 Jonathan 854,255
38 Larry 806,520
39 Justin 782,970
40 Benjamin 781,767
41 Samuel 779,082
42 Raymond 773,997
43 Scott 772,729
44 Brandon 764,068
45 Jack 719,813
46 Gregory 709,647
47 Henry 703,458
48 Alexander 702,522
49 Patrick 678,353
50 Dennis 618,422

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 1888". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 31, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1888/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1888". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1888/. Accessed 31 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1888. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1888/.