The Social Security Administration
published a brief study (
Actuarial Note #139, Name Distributions in the Social Security Area,
August 1997) in 1998 on the distribution of given names of Social Security number
holders. We now make such name data available by allowing
you to request data from one of the forms below.
We periodically publish updated lists of popular baby names
by state as new data become available.
We do not conduct research on baby name popularity or naming trends.
Background Information About
Baby Name Data
In name rankings, please note that names are not edited or grouped together.
In particular, different spellings of similar names are not combined. For example,
the names Kaitlin, Kaitlyn, Kaitlynn, Katelin, Katelyn, Katelynn, and Katlyn are
considered separate names and each has its own rank.
Some names are applied to both males and females (for example, Shannon). Our rankings
are done by sex, so that a name such as Shannon will have a different rank for males
as compared to females. When you seek the popularity of a specific name (see
"Popularity of a Name" below), you can also specify the sex.
If you do not specify the sex, we provide rankings for the sex which gives the
higher rank.
Unless stated otherwise, all names are from all Social Security card applications,
whether the birth occurred in the U.S. or elsewhere. Children born to U.S. military
personnel, diplomats, tourists, and citizens working overseas are included as
long as a Social Security number application is made.
Unless stated otherwise, all data are 100% samples.
People quoting from this document are urged to explicitly acknowledge the above
qualifications.
Popular Names by Birth Year
For a list of the most popular names for a particular year of birth,
select the year and the length of the popularity list.
(Selectable years begin with 1990.)
Popularity of a Name
To see how the popularity of a name has changed over time,
enter the name and, optionally, the sex and number of years. Please
note that the name you select must be in the top 1000 most popular names
in order for the name to appear in the table produced by your request.
You can search for a specific name in a table by using the search
capabilities of your web browser. In Internet Explorer and Netscape
this is normally done by clicking on "Edit" and then "Find in Page"
or similar.
Select sex of baby:
Select :
Top 10 names by year of birth
for years 1880 through 1997, based on a 1% sample
www.socialsecurity.gov
