Methodology

Where the data comes from

Every number on this site comes from the U.S. Social Security Administration's baby-name files, which count the first names on Social Security card applications for babies born in the US. State data starts in 1910.

Data: U.S. Social Security Administration, from Social Security card applications. Includes only names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year (per state, for state data).

Updated May 2026, covering 1880–2025.

Names given to fewer than 5 babies

SSA only publishes a name for a year when at least 5 babies of one sex received it (in a state, for state data). Rarer names and spellings don't appear, and a name can seem to vanish in a year when fewer than 5 babies got it.

Recorded as girls, recorded as boys

SSA files each baby under the sex recorded on the card application. We show those two groups exactly as recorded: “recorded as girls” and “recorded as boys”. Names themselves have no sex.

Babies per 1,000

Charts show how many of every 1,000 babies of that sex in the Social Security records that year were given the name. A rate instead of a raw count makes years comparable, because the number of births changes from year to year.

Trends

A name's trend compares its average rate over the last three years (2023–2025) with its average from 2018 to 2020, for the sex that has received it most. Up about 19% or more is Rising, down about 16% or more is Falling, anything in between is Steady.

New means the name had no babies before 2020 and has some in 2025. “Not recorded since” means it had babies a few years ago but none in the last three years.

Where a name is most popular

For each state we compare the name's share of all babies born there from 2016 to 2025 with its share across all states. 2.0× means the name is twice as common there as nationally. We list a state only when at least 50 babies there got the name in that period and the value is at least 1.2×.

Similar spellings

Two names count as spellings of each other when they match after simplifying both (ph → f, y → i after the first letter, z → s, doubled letters collapsed, one final e dropped), or when they sound the same, end the same, share their first vowels and are spelled almost alike. We show up to 8 spellings given to at least 100 babies.