Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1978

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby boy names are since 1978. 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 1978, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1978.

Rank Name Count
1 Michael 1,684,110
2 Christopher 1,335,854
3 Matthew 1,249,543
4 Joshua 1,136,631
5 David 1,040,328
6 Daniel 1,037,795
7 James 1,019,921
8 Joseph 949,925
9 John 918,556
10 Andrew 917,416
11 William 904,947
12 Jacob 898,417
13 Ryan 843,224
14 Nicholas 792,101
15 Anthony 786,459
16 Robert 776,501
17 Justin 716,498
18 Brandon 715,370
19 Jonathan 692,097
20 Jason 633,435
21 Alexander 620,607
22 Benjamin 605,570
23 Tyler 584,807
24 Kevin 561,574
25 Thomas 548,849
26 Zachary 527,731
27 Brian 508,865
28 Eric 485,727
29 Samuel 481,841
30 Nathan 473,245
31 Adam 465,597
32 Aaron 463,772
33 Ethan 455,997
34 Noah 452,278
35 Kyle 435,089
36 Charles 417,259
37 Steven 416,507
38 Austin 406,135
39 Timothy 405,589
40 Jose 403,224
41 Christian 401,247
42 Dylan 393,897
43 Jordan 381,847
44 Logan 364,457
45 Richard 363,600
46 Gabriel 340,127
47 Jeremy 337,223
48 Elijah 328,254
49 Mason 314,184
50 Caleb 302,295

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 1978". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 29, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1978/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1978". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1978/. Accessed 29 March, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Boy Names Since 1978. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-boy-names-since-1978/.