Type your name to see how common it is. Based on Social Security Administration data covering over 100 years of US births.
This tool draws on Social Security Administration (SSA) birth name data going back to 1880, the most comprehensive public record of naming trends in the United States. The SSA records every name given to 5 or more babies in a given year. The database contains over 100,000 unique names and billions of total records. This tool shows a name's rank, frequency (per million births), and trend direction (rising, falling, stable) for any year or range of years.
Type a name to see its popularity rank and trend over time. The chart shows the name's ranking trajectory from 1880 to the most recent available year. You can compare multiple names on the same chart to see relative popularity trends. Filter by gender (or view both). The Baby Name Generator suggests names based on style, origin, and meaning preferences.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has tracked baby name frequency since 1880, making it one of the most comprehensive demographic datasets available. The SSA database includes every name given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a given year. For privacy reasons, names with fewer than 5 occurrences are excluded. As of the most recent data, the SSA tracks over 100,000 unique names across 140+ years.
Name rankings can be misleading without context. A name ranked #1 in 1950 (James, with 86,000+ babies) represented a much larger share of all births than a #1 name today (Liam, with about 20,000 babies). This is because naming diversity has increased dramatically: parents now choose from a much wider pool of names, so even the most popular names are less dominant than they were historically.
Naming researcher Stanley Lieberson found that name popularity follows roughly 100-year cycles. Names that feel "old-fashioned" to one generation become "vintage chic" two or three generations later. Emma, Olivia, and Charlotte were all popular in the late 1800s, fell out of favor in the mid-1900s, and returned to the top 10 in the 2000s and 2010s. The Baby Name Generator can help discover names across different styles and origins.
Name popularity varies significantly by region within the United States. Southern states show stronger preference for traditional and biblical names (William, James, Elizabeth), while Western states tend toward more modern and nature-inspired names (Kai, Sage, Luna). Hawaiian names like Malia and Kai have spread from Hawaii to the mainland. Regional preferences also reflect cultural demographics: Jose and Sofia rank much higher in states with large Hispanic populations. The SSA provides state-level data that reveals these geographic patterns. International name databases from the UK, Canada, Australia, and European countries show similar regional variation within their borders.
An interesting phenomenon in name popularity is the "Starbucks test": parents increasingly consider whether a name will be easy to spell, pronounce, and write on a coffee cup correctly. Names with intuitive spellings and common phonetic patterns perform better in everyday interactions. The rise of unique spellings (Jaxon instead of Jackson, Kaylynn instead of Cailin) creates a tension between distinctiveness and practical clarity. This tool helps parents see how common or rare a name truly is before making their final decision.
Name popularity follows predictable cycles. Most names rise to peak popularity over 10 to 20 years, hold near the top for a decade, then decline over 20 to 40 years. Some names re-emerge a generation later as "vintage revivals." The SSA database shows that name diversity has increased dramatically since the 1950s: the top 10 boys names accounted for 30% of all births in 1955 but only about 8% today. This means children born today are far less likely to share a name with classmates than their grandparents were. Geographic variation is also significant, with names like "Jackson" ranking much higher in the South than in the Northeast.