Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1917

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1917. 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 1917, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1917.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 3,469,028
2 Patricia 1,566,896
3 Elizabeth 1,496,711
4 Jennifer 1,469,982
5 Linda 1,450,214
6 Barbara 1,415,147
7 Susan 1,108,148
8 Jessica 1,048,497
9 Margaret 1,029,884
10 Sarah 1,017,303
11 Karen 986,955
12 Nancy 977,939
13 Betty 968,537
14 Lisa 966,241
15 Dorothy 943,148
16 Sandra 874,546
17 Ashley 853,497
18 Emily 853,057
19 Kimberly 842,700
20 Donna 827,702
21 Michelle 814,236
22 Carol 812,360
23 Amanda 776,133
24 Helen 759,213
25 Melissa 756,293
26 Stephanie 741,252
27 Deborah 740,941
28 Rebecca 736,733
29 Laura 735,375
30 Sharon 722,368
31 Cynthia 707,435
32 Kathleen 697,687
33 Amy 686,779
34 Anna 684,260
35 Shirley 678,370
36 Angela 664,339
37 Ruth 641,604
38 Emma 631,247
39 Brenda 607,770
40 Katherine 595,372
41 Pamela 594,667
42 Nicole 591,719
43 Samantha 585,552
44 Virginia 579,848
45 Catherine 579,466
46 Christine 569,987
47 Rachel 554,508
48 Debra 550,561
49 Janet 548,161
50 Carolyn 546,810

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 1917". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 19, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1917/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1917". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1917/. Accessed 19 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1917. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1917/.