Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1917

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1917. 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 1917, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1917.

Rank Name Count
1 James 4,894,380
2 John 4,688,718
3 Robert 4,629,693
4 Michael 4,370,287
5 William 3,769,476
6 David 3,606,526
7 Richard 2,508,535
8 Joseph 2,452,508
9 Thomas 2,219,864
10 Charles 2,200,449
11 Christopher 2,051,233
12 Daniel 1,927,915
13 Matthew 1,625,583
14 Anthony 1,439,201
15 Donald 1,378,168
16 Mark 1,352,668
17 Paul 1,325,183
18 Steven 1,286,999
19 Andrew 1,280,516
20 Kenneth 1,250,469
21 George 1,243,205
22 Joshua 1,231,850
23 Kevin 1,179,040
24 Brian 1,170,635
25 Edward 1,158,716
26 Ronald 1,076,907
27 Timothy 1,075,710
28 Jason 1,044,125
29 Jeffrey 977,758
30 Jacob 954,144
31 Ryan 952,472
32 Nicholas 907,544
33 Gary 900,876
34 Eric 883,347
35 Jonathan 857,728
36 Stephen 848,340
37 Larry 804,367
38 Justin 784,268
39 Benjamin 772,385
40 Scott 771,631
41 Brandon 765,792
42 Frank 757,841
43 Samuel 749,244
44 Raymond 715,880
45 Gregory 709,388
46 Alexander 699,914
47 Jack 688,145
48 Patrick 671,603
49 Henry 619,357
50 Dennis 614,394

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 1917". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 24, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1917/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1917". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1917/. Accessed 24 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1917. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1917/.