Liam was the most popular boy name of the past 10 years
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Liam was the most popular boy name in the United States over the past 10 years. From 2016 through 2025, 202,601 baby boys got the name, according to Social Security Administration records. Noah was second with 191,338, and Oliver third with 143,050.
Liam has been the No. 1 boys' name every year since 2017, when it took the top spot from Noah. Its biggest year was 2024, with 22,252 births. Noah has finished first or second every year of the decade.
| Rank | Name | Baby boys, 2016-2025 | Rank in 2016 | Rank in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liam | 202,601 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | Noah | 191,338 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 | Oliver | 143,050 | 12 | 3 |
| 4 | James | 128,653 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 | William | 127,227 | 3 | 9 |
| 6 | Elijah | 125,936 | 9 | 7 |
| 7 | Benjamin | 119,998 | 6 | 11 |
| 8 | Lucas | 116,881 | 14 | 10 |
| 9 | Henry | 110,401 | 22 | 5 |
| 10 | Michael | 101,877 | 8 | 21 |
Henry made the biggest climb in the top 10, from 22nd in 2016 to fifth in 2025. Oliver went from 12th to third. Michael moved the other way, from eighth to 21st, and barely held on to the 10th spot for the decade, about 1,300 births ahead of Alexander.
The names just outside the list show how fast tastes move. Mason was the fourth most popular boy name in 2016, with 15,287 births. By 2025 it had fallen to 39th, with 6,291. Theodore did the reverse, going from 83rd in 2016 to fourth in 2025, when 13,355 boys got the name. Mateo rose from 59th to eighth. Neither had enough births in the early years to make the 10-year list, but both are in the 2025 top 10.
The top boy names hold about the same share of babies they did a decade ago. In 2025, the 10 most popular went to 136,355 boys, 8.3 percent of the boys in Social Security's file. In 2016 the figure was also 8.3 percent.
Names that were popular in earlier decades are in the most popular baby names by decade, and any name's full history can be looked up on the names page.
Sources
Birth counts and ranks are from the Social Security Administration's national baby names file, 2016 through 2025, which lists names given to at least five babies of one sex in a year. The 10-year ranking adds each name's births across those years. Shares are of all boys listed in the file. Spelling variants, such as Jackson and Jaxon, are counted as separate names.
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What was the most popular boy name of the past 10 years?
Liam was the most popular boy name from 2016 through 2025, given to 202,601 baby boys according to Social Security records. Noah was second with 191,338 and Oliver third with 143,050. Liam has ranked No. 1 every year since 2017.
What was the No. 1 boy name in 2025?
Liam was the most popular boy name in 2025, with 20,818 births, followed by Noah with 20,358 and Oliver with 14,939. Theodore, Henry, James, Elijah, Mateo, William, and Lucas completed the 2025 top 10.
Which boy names are rising fastest?
Theodore went from 83rd in 2016 to fourth in 2025, and Mateo rose from 59th to eighth. Henry climbed from 22nd to fifth. Mason went the other way, falling from fourth in 2016 to 39th in 2025.
