Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1885

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1885. 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 1885, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1885.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 4,093,033
2 Elizabeth 1,650,098
3 Patricia 1,572,757
4 Jennifer 1,469,363
5 Linda 1,453,546
6 Barbara 1,434,626
7 Margaret 1,246,578
8 Susan 1,120,922
9 Dorothy 1,108,772
10 Sarah 1,080,296
11 Jessica 1,048,486
12 Helen 1,017,308
13 Nancy 1,001,072
14 Betty 999,694
15 Karen 987,153
16 Lisa 966,069
17 Anna 887,717
18 Sandra 874,576
19 Emily 870,612
20 Ashley 851,646
21 Kimberly 841,316
22 Donna 831,125
23 Ruth 827,474
24 Carol 816,571
25 Michelle 813,423
26 Laura 792,740
27 Amanda 786,533
28 Melissa 756,766
29 Rebecca 750,735
30 Stephanie 742,657
31 Deborah 741,527
32 Sharon 722,253
33 Kathleen 712,629
34 Emma 710,037
35 Cynthia 709,958
36 Amy 695,226
37 Shirley 685,747
38 Angela 668,645
39 Catherine 660,095
40 Virginia 649,440
41 Katherine 641,120
42 Brenda 607,727
43 Evelyn 602,110
44 Pamela 594,694
45 Nicole 590,727
46 Frances 588,965
47 Christine 585,166
48 Samantha 583,471
49 Rachel 567,825
50 Alice 566,623

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 1885". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 30, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1885/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1885". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1885/. Accessed 30 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1885. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1885/.