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 5,171,082
2 John 5,086,148
3 Robert 4,819,337
4 Michael 4,398,643
5 William 4,098,852
6 David 3,648,450
7 Joseph 2,626,415
8 Richard 2,567,191
9 Charles 2,379,549
10 Thomas 2,319,110
11 Christopher 2,053,698
12 Daniel 1,952,583
13 Matthew 1,631,659
14 Anthony 1,467,804
15 George 1,440,419
16 Donald 1,413,136
17 Paul 1,391,086
18 Mark 1,357,201
19 Andrew 1,310,101
20 Steven 1,288,943
21 Edward 1,280,229
22 Kenneth 1,279,960
23 Joshua 1,233,010
24 Kevin 1,179,103
25 Brian 1,170,716
26 Ronald 1,080,758
27 Timothy 1,078,290
28 Jason 1,044,785
29 Jeffrey 977,849
30 Jacob 964,816
31 Ryan 952,511
32 Nicholas 915,912
33 Gary 901,462
34 Frank 889,569
35 Eric 884,580
36 Stephen 860,745
37 Jonathan 858,430
38 Larry 806,783
39 Benjamin 792,609
40 Samuel 787,424
41 Justin 785,037
42 Raymond 774,959
43 Scott 773,213
44 Brandon 765,831
45 Jack 728,702
46 Henry 714,679
47 Alexander 711,195
48 Gregory 710,254
49 Patrick 680,056
50 Dennis 618,839

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 April 19, 2024. 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 19 April, 2024

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