Best Baby Names Below the Top 1000

Updated Thu Sep 10 2020

Each year when the new list of the most popular baby names appears, the first names we look at are, well, the most popular. The Top Ten. The top names in each state. The Top 1000, which is as far as the SSA publishes direct on its site.

But the names don’t stop there!

In 2019, the Top 1000 names in the USA were given to about 77% of all the boys born, and about 68% of girls. That means thousands of children with a name below the Top 1000. And thousands of names floating below the radar.

It took 256 births for a girl name to appear in the Top 1000 (a three-way tie between Ariadne, Dixie and Naya), and 208 for a boy name (Rome making its debut).

So we’ve looked at unique names with under 200 births to find the best names you should know about. There are 400 unique girl names and unique boy names here, grouped by number of births. They include a wide range of styles, sounds and sources, but they’re all reasonably familiar and straightforward, on-trend (or with potential), and pretty rare. In other words, right in that elusive sweet spot many parents are looking for.

Oh, and none of them were in our 2018 list beyond the Top 1000! But most of the names there still stand, so check them out for further inspiration.

151-200 births

Girl Names

Boy Names

101-150 births

Girl Names

Boy Names

51-100 births

Girl Names

Boy Names

50 or fewer births

Girl Names

Boy Names

About the Author

Clare Green

Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from names peaking right now to feminist baby names, and keeping up-to-date with international baby name rankings. Her work has featured in publications such as The Independent and HuffPost. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching names in multilingual families. She lives in England with her husband and son. You can reach her at clare@nameberry.com

View all of Clare Green's articles