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 3,528,369
2 Patricia 1,567,753
3 Elizabeth 1,504,686
4 Jennifer 1,469,363
5 Linda 1,450,165
6 Barbara 1,417,988
7 Susan 1,108,786
8 Margaret 1,052,657
9 Jessica 1,047,933
10 Sarah 1,019,321
11 Karen 986,801
12 Nancy 979,843
13 Betty 973,465
14 Dorothy 969,924
15 Lisa 965,963
16 Sandra 874,359
17 Ashley 851,646
18 Emily 848,809
19 Kimberly 841,316
20 Donna 828,207
21 Michelle 813,418
22 Carol 813,069
23 Helen 791,128
24 Amanda 775,873
25 Melissa 755,535
26 Stephanie 740,996
27 Deborah 740,735
28 Laura 738,250
29 Rebecca 736,800
30 Sharon 722,189
31 Cynthia 707,347
32 Kathleen 699,614
33 Anna 696,544
34 Amy 685,966
35 Shirley 679,482
36 Angela 663,739
37 Ruth 663,138
38 Emma 622,029
39 Brenda 607,606
40 Katherine 598,446
41 Pamela 594,586
42 Virginia 591,766
43 Nicole 590,727
44 Catherine 586,959
45 Samantha 582,986
46 Christine 571,558
47 Rachel 554,589
48 Debra 550,527
49 Janet 549,507
50 Carolyn 547,834

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 March 30, 2023. 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 30 March, 2023

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