The most popular baby names of every decade since the 1880s

Mary was the most popular name for baby girls in the United States every decade from the 1880s through the 1950s. Michael held the top spot for boys for four straight decades, the 1960s through the 1990s. Since then, the top names have turned over faster: Emily, Emma, and Olivia for girls, and Jacob, Noah, and Liam for boys.

The figures come from the Social Security Administration's records of names given to babies born in the United States, added up by decade on CensusEasy's names pages.

How close the races were

Some decades were close. In the 1950s, Mary edged out Linda, 625,606 babies to 564,364. For boys that decade, James (843,768) barely beat Michael (837,471) and Robert (830,395), with only about 13,000 babies separating first from third. In the 1920s, Robert passed John by about 12,000.

Others were not close at all. In the 1970s, about 582,000 girls were named Jennifer, more than twice as many as the next name, Amy, at about 269,000. Lisa also led clearly in the 1960s, with about 497,000 babies against 355,000 for Mary, which had fallen to second.

Names are spreading out

The top name now covers a much smaller slice of babies than it once did. About 840,000 boys were named James in the 1950s. In the 2010s, the top boy name, Noah, went to about 183,000, and the top girl name, Emma, to about 195,000. No single name dominates the way Mary and James once did.

The 2020s figures cover 2020 through 2025 only, so Olivia and Liam could still be overtaken. Through the decade's first years, Liam led Noah by about 9,000 babies and Olivia led Emma by about 10,000.

Today's most common first names among all living Americans, which still reflect the older decades, are in the most common first names in America, and the top name in each state is in the most common first name in every state.

Sources

Baby name counts are from the Social Security Administration's national data on names given to babies born in the United States, summed by decade. Counts for the earliest decades are lower than actual births because many people born before the 1930s did not apply for Social Security numbers until later in life, if at all. The 2020s figures cover 2020 through 2025.