Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1897

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1897. 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 1897, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1897.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,124,808
2 John 5,010,387
3 Robert 4,796,105
4 Michael 4,395,051
5 William 4,030,815
6 David 3,641,750
7 Joseph 2,600,370
8 Richard 2,560,453
9 Charles 2,343,956
10 Thomas 2,299,265
11 Christopher 2,053,022
12 Daniel 1,947,845
13 Matthew 1,630,629
14 Anthony 1,465,804
15 Donald 1,411,889
16 George 1,400,668
17 Paul 1,384,619
18 Mark 1,356,333
19 Andrew 1,304,950
20 Steven 1,288,784
21 Kenneth 1,279,120
22 Edward 1,259,786
23 Joshua 1,232,732
24 Kevin 1,179,103
25 Brian 1,170,716
26 Ronald 1,080,611
27 Timothy 1,077,674
28 Jason 1,044,639
29 Jeffrey 977,849
30 Jacob 962,266
31 Ryan 952,511
32 Nicholas 915,140
33 Gary 901,382
34 Eric 884,419
35 Frank 862,618
36 Stephen 859,228
37 Jonathan 858,307
38 Larry 806,558
39 Benjamin 787,726
40 Justin 784,940
41 Samuel 780,038
42 Scott 772,842
43 Raymond 769,042
44 Brandon 765,831
45 Jack 725,127
46 Gregory 710,184
47 Alexander 709,349
48 Henry 694,103
49 Patrick 677,992
50 Dennis 617,984

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 1897". NameCensus.com. Accessed on June 2, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1897/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1897". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1897/. Accessed 2 June, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1897. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1897/.