Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1946

In this article we'll look at what the most popular baby girl names are since 1946. 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 1946, with a total count for the number of births registered with that given name since 1946.

Rank Name Count
1 Mary 1,629,277
2 Jennifer 1,466,455
3 Linda 1,223,142
4 Elizabeth 1,142,900
5 Jessica 1,046,174
6 Patricia 1,044,649
7 Susan 997,834
8 Lisa 964,374
9 Sarah 893,092
10 Karen 887,432
11 Ashley 851,590
12 Kimberly 841,136
13 Michelle 811,281
14 Emily 801,259
15 Amanda 767,603
16 Barbara 767,500
17 Melissa 753,170
18 Stephanie 731,810
19 Deborah 731,221
20 Sandra 689,713
21 Rebecca 688,478
22 Cynthia 677,524
23 Amy 672,275
24 Nancy 651,237
25 Laura 646,632
26 Angela 642,553
27 Donna 642,279
28 Nicole 590,365
29 Samantha 582,396
30 Sharon 576,937
31 Pamela 570,074
32 Kathleen 559,225
33 Brenda 557,007
34 Debra 549,120
35 Heather 523,876
36 Rachel 514,522
37 Emma 510,242
38 Christine 504,473
39 Carol 500,086
40 Julie 492,747
41 Katherine 491,094
42 Olivia 486,796
43 Maria 473,675
44 Kelly 472,066
45 Lauren 471,482
46 Victoria 466,175
47 Christina 462,297
48 Margaret 449,928
49 Megan 438,388
50 Diane 437,577

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 1946". NameCensus.com. Accessed on March 23, 2023. https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1946/.

  • "Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1946". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1946/. Accessed 23 March, 2023

  • Most Popular Baby Girl Names Since 1946. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from https://namecensus.com/baby-names/popular-girl-names-since-1946/.