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The #1 Baby Names: How popular are they?

Kelli Brady

Updated Sun Aug 03 2014

By Kelli Brady, NameFreak!

Most of us know that the top names on the Social Security list aren’t given to as many babies as they once were. Here, data whiz Kelli shows how the Number 1 names have become less and less popular through the years, tracing the percentages of babies given the top name from 1880 to now.

YEAR

#1 BOY

PERCENTAGE

#1 GIRL

PERCENTAGE

1880

8.1546%

7.2384%

1881

8.0981%

6.9989%

1882

7.8316%

7.0425%

1883

7.9071%

6.6730%

1884

7.6478%

6.6989%

1885

7.5517%

6.4304%

1886

7.5821%

6.4331%

1887

7.4190%

6.3620%

1888

7.1187%

6.2042%

1889

7.1808%

6.1559%

1890

7.1027%

5.9892%

1891

7.0293%

5.9536%

1892

6.8760%

5.8572%

1893

6.6498%

5.6758%

1894

6.5957%

5.5731%

1895

6.5703%

5.4413%

1896

6.3055%

5.4806%

1897

6.1914%

5.4020%

1898

6.1766%

5.2548%

1899

6.0678%

5.3222%

1900

6.0618%

5.2574%

1901

5.9680%

5.1669%

1902

5.9571%

5.1673%

1903

5.8835%

5.1312%

1904

5.8537%

5.1163%

1905

5.6261%

5.1850%

1906

5.7360%

5.2227%

1907

5.6643%

5.2102%

1908

5.6151%

5.2651%

1909

5.4229%

5.2320%

1910

5.4915%

5.4462%

1911

5.5704%

5.5203%

1912

5.4462%

5.5058%

1913

5.4688%

5.5953%

1914

5.5531%

5.6927%

1915

5.4008%

5.6830%

1916

5.4205%

5.6585%

1917

5.4052%

5.7207%

1918

5.3929%

5.6034%

1919

5.2721%

5.6047%

1920

5.1699%

5.7055%

1921

5.1173%

5.7817%

1922

5.0888%

5.7851%

1923

5.0754%

5.7196%

1924

5.2006%

5.6738%

1925

5.2897%

5.5901%

1926

5.3353%

5.5149%

1927

5.3082%

5.7122%

1928

5.3175%

5.5940%

1929

5.4012%

5.4867%

1930

5.5016%

5.4990%

1931

5.6590%

5.4646%

1932

5.5158%

5.4122%

1933

5.3145%

5.3058%

1934

5.2593%

5.2590%

1935

5.2856%

5.0681%

1936

5.4963%

5.0458%

1937

5.6539%

5.0506%

1938

5.4806%

4.9246%

1939

5.2635%

4.8419%

1940

5.2667%

4.7582%

1941

5.3185%

4.6577%

1942

5.4808%

4.5487%

1943

5.5183%

4.6105%

1944

5.5402%

4.5719%

1945

5.4288%

4.4042%

1946

5.2990%

4.1829%

1947

5.1009%

5.4838%

1948

4.9702%

5.5205%

1949

4.8213%

5.1845%

1950

4.7384%

4.5729%

1951

4.5656%

4.0038%

1952

4.4113%

3.5264%

1953

4.3065%

3.3359%

1954

4.2795%

3.4156%

1955

4.2272%

3.1514%

1956

4.2254%

2.9986%

1957

4.2380%

2.9128%

1958

4.2036%

2.7043%

1959

3.9369%

2.6210%

1960

3.9670%

2.4748%

1961

4.0319%

2.2958%

1962

4.0451%

2.2737%

1963

4.0571%

2.8190%

1964

4.0774%

2.7733%

1965

4.2761%

3.2981%

1966

4.4009%

3.2421%

1967

4.6323%

3.0544%

1968

4.6179%

2.8975%

1969

4.6559%

2.5550%

1970

4.4766%

2.5199%

1971

4.2678%

3.2409%

1972

4.2647%

3.9446%

1973

4.2039%

4.0192%

1974

4.1443%

4.0297%

1975

4.2181%

3.7283%

1976

4.1012%

3.7841%

1977

3.9549%

3.5851%

1978

3.9299%

3.4263%

1979

3.7808%

3.2920%

1980

3.7032%

3.2804%

1981

3.6928%

3.1906%

1982

3.6151%

3.1492%

1983

3.6506%

3.0377%

1984

3.6108%

2.8051%

1985

3.3742%

2.6200%

1986

3.3424%

2.8551%

1987

3.2651%

2.9886%

1988

3.2043%

2.6811%

1989

3.1210%

2.4045%

1990

3.0351%

2.2627%

1991

2.8687%

2.1393%

1992

2.5916%

1.9188%

1993

2.4003%

1.7750%

1994

2.1825%

1.6481%

1995

2.0596%

1.4546%

1996

1.9155%

1.3124%

1997

1.8804%

1.3484%

1998

1.8066%

1.3512%

1999

1.7346%

1.3639%

2000

1.6516%

1.3015%

2001

1.5736%

1.2657%

2002

1.4797%

1.2394%

2003

1.4104%

1.2813%

2004

1.3201%

1.2415%

2005

1.2148%

1.1803%

2006

1.1334%

1.0244%

2007

1.0962%

0.9150%

2008

1.0363%

0.9040%

2009

0.9981%

1.1021%

2010

1.0770%

1.1698%

2011

1.0024%

1.1293%

2012

0.9404%

1.1531%

2013

0.9043%

1.1039%

While starting out as less so, the boy names used are becoming more and more diverse. Only nine out of every 1,000 boys were named Noah in 2013, which is why we were surprised to hear it is #1.

The popularity of Isabella and Sophia have made it not as various on the girls side, after Emma took over with a “low” percentage in 2008, but there is still a general movement away from top names.

Another way to make the point…

1

0.9043%

1.1039%

2

0.8999%

1.0888%

3

0.8986%

0.9562%

4

0.8793%

0.9161%

5

0.8246%

0.7924%

6

0.8062%

0.6844%

7

0.7681%

0.6832%

8

0.7384%

0.6449%

9

0.7326%

0.5515%

10

0.7068%

0.4895%

8.1588%

7.9109%

The total percentages of use of the Top 10 boys and girls in 2013 are almost the exact same percentages of use of 1880’s #1s John and Mary alone.

Yay for numbers! And yay for variety!

Originally posted at NameFreak! on May 21, 2014 and revised for Nameberry.

About the Author

Kelli Brady

Kelli Brady on Facebook

Kelli Brady on Twitter

Kelli Brady's Personal Website

Kelli Brady

Kelli Brady is a stay at home mom of two who needed an outlet for her name obsession. She found it at NameFreak!, a blog dedicated to a wide variety of name-related whims and fancies. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter. Her eBook, Name-alytics, is a look at the history of the Top 100 names in the United States. Check it out at https://gumroad.com/l/name-alytics!

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Find your perfect baby name together in our iPhone app, now available on the App Store.

Swipe through thousands of names with your partner
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Partner with friends and family to find names you all love
Backed by Nameberry's 20 years of data around name preferences.

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The Nameberry App Is Live

Nameberry app screenshot

Find your perfect baby name together in our iPhone app, now available on the App Store.

Swipe through thousands of names with your partner
Names you match on are saved to your shared list
Get personalized recommendations that learn based on your and your partner's preferences
Partner with friends and family to find names you all love
Backed by Nameberry's 20 years of data around name preferences.

Download on the App Store

Nameberry app screenshot