Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1956

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1956. 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 1956, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1956.

Rank Name Count
1 Michael 3,440,373
2 David 2,460,274
3 James 2,384,867
4 John 2,269,678
5 Robert 2,070,712
6 Christopher 1,986,492
7 William 1,771,186
8 Matthew 1,578,988
9 Daniel 1,565,097
10 Joseph 1,539,018
11 Joshua 1,221,968
12 Thomas 1,195,140
13 Anthony 1,191,648
14 Andrew 1,134,881
15 Mark 1,113,548
16 Richard 1,107,737
17 Brian 1,102,746
18 Kevin 1,101,898
19 Jason 1,036,484
20 Steven 1,002,976
21 Ryan 946,544
22 Timothy 930,780
23 Charles 926,702
24 Jacob 920,713
25 Jeffrey 854,621
26 Nicholas 847,043
27 Eric 837,697
28 Jonathan 828,782
29 Justin 777,362
30 Brandon 763,031
31 Scott 710,659
32 Paul 700,812
33 Benjamin 687,341
34 Kenneth 652,285
35 Alexander 650,125
36 Tyler 594,053
37 Samuel 575,601
38 Stephen 569,494
39 Aaron 567,060
40 Gregory 562,895
41 Adam 547,610
42 Zachary 541,820
43 Patrick 533,524
44 Nathan 533,480
45 Jose 506,531
46 Kyle 477,229
47 Edward 465,576
48 Ronald 462,126
49 Donald 457,271
50 Ethan 453,601

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 1956". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 30, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1956/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1956". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1956/. Accessed 30 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1956. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1956/.