Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1926

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1926. 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 1926, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1926.

Rank Name Count
1 James 4,468,986
2 Michael 4,334,051
3 John 4,180,649
4 Robert 4,179,759
5 David 3,538,099
6 William 3,325,719
7 Richard 2,360,534
8 Joseph 2,224,150
9 Thomas 2,085,273
10 Christopher 2,048,667
11 Charles 1,948,795
12 Daniel 1,891,815
13 Matthew 1,617,389
14 Anthony 1,393,642
15 Mark 1,347,061
16 Steven 1,283,546
17 Donald 1,255,377
18 Andrew 1,245,821
19 Joshua 1,230,742
20 Paul 1,211,428
21 Kevin 1,178,643
22 Kenneth 1,174,431
23 Brian 1,170,367
24 Timothy 1,073,142
25 Ronald 1,067,556
26 Jason 1,043,265
27 George 1,004,843
28 Edward 980,044
29 Jeffrey 977,547
30 Ryan 952,378
31 Jacob 944,725
32 Gary 900,131
33 Nicholas 894,712
34 Eric 881,589
35 Jonathan 856,813
36 Stephen 832,827
37 Larry 800,002
38 Justin 783,027
39 Scott 769,914
40 Brandon 765,687
41 Benjamin 751,584
42 Samuel 707,923
43 Gregory 707,679
44 Alexander 686,973
45 Patrick 662,853
46 Frank 612,928
47 Raymond 608,192
48 Dennis 608,114
49 Jack 598,341
50 Tyler 597,695

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 1926". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 28, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1926/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1926". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1926/. Accessed 28 March, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1926. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1926/.