Baby Name Popularity Lookup

From the US Social Security Administration. When a baby is registered for a Social Security number — which happens for essentially all US births — the name and gender are recorded. SSA publishes anonymized rankings each May for the previous year. Names with fewer than 5 babies per state are suppressed for privacy.

Olivia and Liam have held the top spots for both girls and boys for several consecutive years. Other consistently top-10 names: Emma, Charlotte, Amelia, Sophia for girls; Noah, Oliver, James, Elijah for boys. The full top 100 changes slowly — major shifts take 3–5 years.

Three approaches: (1) Look below the top 200 — names ranked 200–1000 are familiar but distinctive. (2) Use family or heritage names from grandparents or further back; classic returns are common (Hazel, Theodore, Margaret). (3) Avoid the rising stars of the moment — names climbing rapidly (Mateo, Aria) often peak and become dated. Top 50 names will likely sound 2020s twenty years from now.

Yes, substantially. Religious patterns drive Utah (more Old Testament names) and Hispanic-influenced states like California, Texas, Florida (more Spanish-origin names: Mateo, Sofia, Emilia). The SSA publishes state-by-state lists each year, available at ssa.gov.

Five trends in the 2020s: (1) Vintage revival (Eleanor, Theodore, Hazel, Walter). (2) Nature names (Willow, River, Sage, Wren). (3) Gender-fluid names (Avery, Riley, Quinn — strong on both lists). (4) Spanish/Italian-origin names mainstreaming (Mateo, Luca, Mila, Elena). (5) Spelling variations declining — parents increasingly choose the traditional spelling (Madison over Madisyn).