Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1936

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1936. 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 1936, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1936.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 2,217,937
2 Jennifer 1,469,714
3 Linda 1,440,082
4 Patricia 1,374,252
5 Elizabeth 1,252,042
6 Barbara 1,152,815
7 Susan 1,089,375
8 Jessica 1,047,679
9 Karen 983,565
10 Lisa 965,831
11 Sarah 933,787
12 Sandra 863,121
13 Nancy 856,601
14 Ashley 853,492
15 Kimberly 842,680
16 Emily 820,513
17 Michelle 814,011
18 Amanda 770,567
19 Donna 756,409
20 Melissa 755,281
21 Carol 740,355
22 Deborah 738,287
23 Stephanie 737,473
24 Sharon 714,687
25 Rebecca 713,890
26 Cynthia 698,349
27 Amy 677,698
28 Laura 672,192
29 Angela 652,260
30 Kathleen 637,945
31 Margaret 608,592
32 Brenda 606,672
33 Pamela 593,245
34 Nicole 591,719
35 Samantha 585,210
36 Debra 550,245
37 Emma 550,093
38 Christine 530,492
39 Rachel 528,731
40 Heather 525,198
41 Katherine 522,333
42 Olivia 508,931
43 Diane 506,556
44 Julie 503,865
45 Maria 501,483
46 Carolyn 489,352
47 Victoria 482,162
48 Janet 480,325
49 Lauren 472,946
50 Kelly 472,702

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 1936". NameCensus.com. Accessed on April 26, 2024. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1936/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1936". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1936/. Accessed 26 April, 2024

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1936. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1936/.