The #1 Baby Names: How popular are they?
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.