Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1896

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1896. 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 1896, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1896.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,130,014
2 John 5,018,525
3 Robert 4,798,824
4 Michael 4,395,450
5 William 4,038,562
6 David 3,642,515
7 Joseph 2,603,421
8 Richard 2,561,287
9 Charles 2,347,595
10 Thomas 2,301,353
11 Christopher 2,053,095
12 Daniel 1,948,406
13 Matthew 1,630,752
14 Anthony 1,466,080
15 Donald 1,412,100
16 George 1,404,954
17 Paul 1,385,583
18 Mark 1,356,452
19 Andrew 1,305,516
20 Steven 1,288,801
21 Kenneth 1,279,295
22 Edward 1,262,082
23 Joshua 1,232,762
24 Kevin 1,179,103
25 Brian 1,170,716
26 Ronald 1,080,634
27 Timothy 1,077,746
28 Jason 1,044,648
29 Jeffrey 977,849
30 Jacob 962,507
31 Ryan 952,511
32 Nicholas 915,246
33 Gary 901,395
34 Eric 884,444
35 Frank 865,463
36 Stephen 859,392
37 Jonathan 858,325
38 Larry 806,596
39 Benjamin 788,142
40 Justin 784,957
41 Samuel 780,772
42 Scott 772,873
43 Raymond 769,901
44 Brandon 765,831
45 Jack 725,666
46 Gregory 710,194
47 Alexander 709,581
48 Henry 696,286
49 Patrick 678,206
50 Dennis 618,074

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 1896". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 26, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1896/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1896". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1896/. Accessed 26 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1896. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1896/.