Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1886

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1886. 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 1886, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1886.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 4,083,905
2 Elizabeth 1,647,516
3 Patricia 1,572,752
4 Jennifer 1,469,363
5 Linda 1,453,486
6 Barbara 1,434,431
7 Margaret 1,244,374
8 Susan 1,120,620
9 Dorothy 1,108,576
10 Sarah 1,078,872
11 Jessica 1,048,480
12 Helen 1,016,174
13 Nancy 1,000,545
14 Betty 999,539
15 Karen 987,143
16 Lisa 966,069
17 Anna 883,723
18 Sandra 874,576
19 Emily 870,266
20 Ashley 851,646
21 Kimberly 841,316
22 Donna 831,099
23 Ruth 826,968
24 Carol 816,560
25 Michelle 813,423
26 Laura 791,415
27 Amanda 786,194
28 Melissa 756,721
29 Rebecca 750,433
30 Stephanie 742,657
31 Deborah 741,517
32 Sharon 722,253
33 Kathleen 712,591
34 Cynthia 709,899
35 Emma 707,309
36 Amy 694,986
37 Shirley 685,731
38 Angela 668,627
39 Catherine 659,249
40 Virginia 649,151
41 Katherine 640,369
42 Brenda 607,727
43 Evelyn 601,919
44 Pamela 594,694
45 Nicole 590,727
46 Frances 588,121
47 Christine 585,034
48 Samantha 583,454
49 Rachel 567,613
50 Alice 564,942

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 1886". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 23, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1886/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1886". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1886/. Accessed 23 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1886. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1886/.