Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1972

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1972. 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 1972, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1972.

Rank Name Count
1 Michael 2,093,940
2 Christopher 1,623,515
3 Matthew 1,414,759
4 David 1,288,601
5 James 1,269,171
6 Joshua 1,214,849
7 Daniel 1,182,060
8 John 1,141,875
9 Joseph 1,088,265
10 William 1,065,273
11 Robert 998,629
12 Andrew 992,165
13 Jason 932,855
14 Ryan 929,882
15 Jacob 919,120
16 Anthony 886,637
17 Nicholas 814,187
18 Justin 766,046
19 Jonathan 756,388
20 Brandon 754,091
21 Brian 709,000
22 Kevin 683,222
23 Benjamin 654,832
24 Thomas 652,896
25 Alexander 634,933
26 Eric 610,690
27 Tyler 591,094
28 Zachary 538,262
29 Aaron 524,916
30 Steven 521,446
31 Adam 516,247
32 Nathan 512,930
33 Samuel 509,909
34 Charles 508,403
35 Timothy 505,706
36 Richard 476,411
37 Ethan 459,341
38 Noah 455,551
39 Kyle 452,194
40 Jose 442,918
41 Jeremy 424,242
42 Christian 416,428
43 Austin 408,579
44 Mark 405,687
45 Jeffrey 399,549
46 Dylan 396,245
47 Jordan 384,339
48 Logan 365,063
49 Gabriel 355,346
50 Patrick 348,481

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 1972". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 26, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1972/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1972". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1972/. Accessed 26 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1972. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1972/.