Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1938

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1938. 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 1938, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1938.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 2,105,822
2 Jennifer 1,469,010
3 Linda 1,432,918
4 Patricia 1,323,278
5 Elizabeth 1,226,834
6 Barbara 1,085,948
7 Susan 1,084,372
8 Jessica 1,046,947
9 Karen 979,418
10 Lisa 965,442
11 Sarah 923,903
12 Ashley 851,641
13 Sandra 849,845
14 Kimberly 841,285
15 Nancy 822,513
16 Michelle 813,128
17 Emily 811,636
18 Amanda 769,518
19 Melissa 754,313
20 Donna 739,490
21 Deborah 737,369
22 Stephanie 736,442
23 Rebecca 710,415
24 Carol 708,419
25 Sharon 706,210
26 Cynthia 695,873
27 Amy 675,630
28 Laura 666,705
29 Angela 649,565
30 Kathleen 630,622
31 Brenda 606,089
32 Pamela 592,667
33 Nicole 590,718
34 Samantha 582,581
35 Margaret 576,673
36 Debra 550,071
37 Emma 530,076
38 Christine 526,812
39 Rachel 525,048
40 Heather 524,914
41 Katherine 515,766
42 Julie 502,545
43 Diane 501,153
44 Maria 494,719
45 Olivia 491,584
46 Victoria 476,263
47 Kelly 472,329
48 Carolyn 472,314
49 Lauren 471,964
50 Christina 466,114

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 1938". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 30, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1938/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1938". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1938/. Accessed 30 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1938. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1938/.