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 2,107,919
2 Jennifer 1,469,634
3 Linda 1,433,264
4 Patricia 1,323,499
5 Elizabeth 1,233,798
6 Barbara 1,086,219
7 Susan 1,084,578
8 Jessica 1,047,564
9 Karen 979,614
10 Lisa 965,731
11 Sarah 926,683
12 Ashley 853,492
13 Sandra 850,075
14 Kimberly 842,669
15 Nancy 822,775
16 Emily 818,097
17 Michelle 813,946
18 Amanda 770,199
19 Melissa 755,135
20 Donna 739,591
21 Deborah 737,665
22 Stephanie 737,095
23 Rebecca 711,480
24 Carol 708,499
25 Sharon 706,409
26 Cynthia 696,185
27 Amy 677,038
28 Laura 667,574
29 Angela 650,881
30 Kathleen 630,849
31 Brenda 606,276
32 Pamela 592,760
33 Nicole 591,710
34 Samantha 585,167
35 Margaret 578,853
36 Debra 550,110
37 Emma 544,511
38 Christine 527,028
39 Rachel 526,295
40 Heather 525,094
41 Katherine 517,493
42 Olivia 508,157
43 Julie 502,952
44 Diane 501,235
45 Maria 497,550
46 Victoria 481,026
47 Lauren 472,946
48 Kelly 472,675
49 Carolyn 472,506
50 Christina 466,505

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 April 25, 2024. 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 25 April, 2024

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