Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1889

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1889. 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 1889, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1889.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,153,492
2 John 5,068,971
3 Robert 4,812,472
4 Michael 4,389,348
5 William 4,078,865
6 David 3,639,908
7 Joseph 2,615,651
8 Richard 2,564,746
9 Charles 2,369,069
10 Thomas 2,310,196
11 Christopher 2,048,084
12 Daniel 1,942,970
13 Matthew 1,624,520
14 Anthony 1,461,057
15 George 1,432,887
16 Donald 1,412,657
17 Paul 1,389,231
18 Mark 1,355,666
19 Andrew 1,304,362
20 Steven 1,287,584
21 Kenneth 1,278,618
22 Edward 1,276,023
23 Joshua 1,227,814
24 Kevin 1,177,043
25 Brian 1,169,546
26 Ronald 1,080,214
27 Timothy 1,076,387
28 Jason 1,042,170
29 Jeffrey 977,172
30 Jacob 956,860
31 Ryan 948,139
32 Nicholas 912,192
33 Gary 901,222
34 Frank 885,406
35 Eric 883,018
36 Stephen 859,647
37 Jonathan 854,238
38 Larry 806,501
39 Justin 782,961
40 Benjamin 780,986
41 Samuel 778,151
42 Raymond 773,528
43 Scott 772,685
44 Brandon 764,068
45 Jack 719,484
46 Gregory 709,642
47 Alexander 702,285
48 Henry 700,862
49 Patrick 678,108
50 Dennis 618,316

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 1889". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 31, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1889/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1889". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1889/. Accessed 31 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1889. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1889/.