What is the most popular name in your birth year and how popular is yours?
What’s in a name? The popularity of first names changes on a yearly basis and the SSA has tracked the most common names across the past century.
Your given name is the most basic piece of information used to identify yourself and for most people that name is simply a fact of life. But have you ever wondered how common your name is amongst your contemporaries, or what you would have been called if you were born in a different era?
The Social Security Administration (SSA) gathers information on all children born in the United States and has comprised lists of the most popular names in each year for the past 100 years.
The most common names change regularly, but there are some that have remained popular throughout the past century. Names like James, Michael and Emma are frequently amongst the most common, but some enjoy short-lived surges of popularity.
In 2021, the most recent year on record, the SSA found that these were the top ten most common baby names in the US…
1. Liam, Olivia
2. Noah, Emma
3. Oliver, Charlotte
4. Elijah, Amelia
5. James, Ava
6. William, Sophia
7. Benjamin, Isabella
8. Lucas, Mia
9. Henry, Evelyn
10. Theodore, Harper
What are the most popular names in my birth year?
If you think back to your time in school, there are certain to have been some names that were common in every class you attended. Some names are perennially popular, while other enjoy a short spell as common choices.
The SSA has calculated the most popular names for each birth year dating back to 1930. Here are the most popular female and male names, by year, in the United States…
2021: Olivia, Liam
2020: Olivia, Liam
2019: Olivia, Liam
2018: Emma, Liam
2017: Emma, Liam
2016: Emma, Noah
2015: Emma, Noah
2014: Emma, Noah
2013: Sophia, Noah
2012: Sophia, Jacob
2011: Sophia, Jacob
2010: Isabella, Jacob
2009: Isabella, Jacob
2008: Emma, Jacob
2007: Emily, Jacob
2006: Emily, Jacob
2005: Emily, Jacob
2004: Emily, Jacob
2003: Emily, Jacob
2002: Emily, Jacob
2001: Emily, Jacob
2000: Emily, Jacob
1999: Emily, Jacob
1998: Emily, Michael
1997: Emily, Michael
1996: Emily, Michael
1995: Jessica , Michael
1994: Jessica , Michael
1993: Jessica , Michael
1992: Ashley, Michael
1991: Ashley, Michael
1990: Jessica, Michael
1989: Jessica , Michael
1988: Jessica , Michael
1987: Jessica , Michael
1986: Jessica , Michael
1985: Jessica , Michael
1984: Jennifer, Michael
1983: Jennifer, Michael
1982: Jennifer, Michael
1981: Jennifer, Michael
1980: Jennifer, Michael
1979: Jennifer, Michael
1978: Jennifer, Michael
1977: Jennifer, Michael
1976: Jennifer, Michael
1975: Jennifer, Michael
1974: Jennifer, Michael
1973: Jennifer, Michael
1972: Jennifer, Michael
1971: Jennifer, Michael
1970: Jennifer, Michael
1969: Lisa, Michael
1968: Lisa, Michael
1967: Lisa, Michael
1966:: Lisa, Michael
1965: Lisa, Michael
1964: Lisa, Michael
1963: Lisa, Michael
1962: Lisa, Michael
1961: Mary, Michael
1960: Mary, David
1959: Mary, Michael
1958: Mary, Michael
1957: Mary, Michael
1956: Mary, Michael
1955: Mary, Michael
1954: Mary, Michael
1953: Mary, Robert
1952: Linda, James
1951: Linda, James
1950: Linda, James
1949: Linda, James
1948: Linda, James
1947: Linda, James
1946: Mary, James
1945: Mary, James
1944: Mary, James
1943: Mary, James
1942: Mary, James
1941: Mary, James
1940: Mary, James
1939: Mary, Robert
1938: Mary, Robert
1937: Mary, Robert
1936: Mary, Robert
1935: Mary, Robert
1934: Mary, Robert
1933: Mary, Robert
1932: Mary, Robert
1931: Mary, Robert
1930: Mary, Robert