Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1898

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1898. 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 1898, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1898.

Rank Name Count
1 James 5,119,695
2 John 5,002,837
3 Robert 4,793,404
4 Michael 4,394,683
5 William 4,023,617
6 David 3,641,020
7 Joseph 2,597,543
8 Richard 2,559,751
9 Charles 2,340,615
10 Thomas 2,297,285
11 Christopher 2,052,965
12 Daniel 1,947,325
13 Matthew 1,630,529
14 Anthony 1,465,555
15 Donald 1,411,694
16 George 1,396,590
17 Paul 1,383,696
18 Mark 1,356,229
19 Andrew 1,304,395
20 Steven 1,288,767
21 Kenneth 1,278,956
22 Edward 1,257,665
23 Joshua 1,232,703
24 Kevin 1,179,103
25 Brian 1,170,716
26 Ronald 1,080,577
27 Timothy 1,077,616
28 Jason 1,044,627
29 Jeffrey 977,849
30 Jacob 962,062
31 Ryan 952,511
32 Nicholas 915,053
33 Gary 901,369
34 Eric 884,389
35 Frank 859,892
36 Stephen 859,034
37 Jonathan 858,292
38 Larry 806,525
39 Benjamin 787,348
40 Justin 784,927
41 Samuel 779,279
42 Scott 772,798
43 Raymond 768,205
44 Brandon 765,831
45 Jack 724,630
46 Gregory 710,176
47 Alexander 709,177
48 Henry 692,109
49 Patrick 677,782
50 Dennis 617,888

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 1898". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 19, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1898/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1898". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1898/. Accessed 19 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1898. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1898/.