Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1881

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1881. 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 girl names since 1881, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1881.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 4,125,329
2 Elizabeth 1,658,940
3 Patricia 1,572,763
4 Jennifer 1,469,363
5 Linda 1,453,702
6 Barbara 1,435,214
7 Margaret 1,254,080
8 Susan 1,122,188
9 Dorothy 1,109,300
10 Sarah 1,085,809
11 Jessica 1,048,521
12 Helen 1,020,606
13 Nancy 1,002,872
14 Betty 1,000,193
15 Karen 987,159
16 Lisa 966,069
17 Anna 900,724
18 Sandra 874,576
19 Emily 871,834
20 Ashley 851,646
21 Kimberly 841,316
22 Donna 831,202
23 Ruth 828,901
24 Carol 816,595
25 Michelle 813,423
26 Laura 797,282
27 Amanda 787,708
28 Melissa 756,937
29 Rebecca 751,742
30 Stephanie 742,657
31 Deborah 741,585
32 Sharon 722,253
33 Emma 719,328
34 Kathleen 712,712
35 Cynthia 710,175
36 Amy 695,981
37 Shirley 685,792
38 Angela 668,720
39 Catherine 663,183
40 Virginia 650,421
41 Katherine 643,469
42 Brenda 607,727
43 Evelyn 602,660
44 Pamela 594,694
45 Frances 591,731
46 Nicole 590,727
47 Christine 585,540
48 Samantha 583,531
49 Alice 572,693
50 Rachel 568,589

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 Girl Names Since 1881". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 30, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1881/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1881". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1881/. Accessed 30 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1881. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1881/.