Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1916

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1916. 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 1916, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1916.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 3,530,466
2 Patricia 1,567,974
3 Elizabeth 1,511,650
4 Jennifer 1,469,987
5 Linda 1,450,511
6 Barbara 1,418,259
7 Susan 1,108,992
8 Margaret 1,054,837
9 Jessica 1,048,550
10 Sarah 1,022,101
11 Karen 986,997
12 Nancy 980,105
13 Betty 973,673
14 Dorothy 970,566
15 Lisa 966,252
16 Sandra 874,589
17 Emily 855,270
18 Ashley 853,497
19 Kimberly 842,700
20 Donna 828,308
21 Michelle 814,236
22 Carol 813,149
23 Helen 791,875
24 Amanda 776,554
25 Melissa 756,357
26 Stephanie 741,649
27 Deborah 741,031
28 Laura 739,119
29 Rebecca 737,865
30 Sharon 722,388
31 Cynthia 707,659
32 Kathleen 699,841
33 Anna 699,488
34 Amy 687,374
35 Shirley 679,615
36 Angela 665,055
37 Ruth 664,794
38 Emma 636,464
39 Brenda 607,793
40 Katherine 600,173
41 Pamela 594,679
42 Virginia 592,335
43 Nicole 591,719
44 Catherine 587,935
45 Samantha 585,572
46 Christine 571,774
47 Rachel 555,836
48 Debra 550,566
49 Janet 549,610
50 Carolyn 548,026

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 1916". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 25, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1916/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1916". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1916/. Accessed 25 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1916. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1916/.