Total number of babies named Jacob: 273,8441
Total number of babies named Emily: 223,690
Spotlight
These were the top 10 baby names of the 2000s
From the A look at the most popular baby names in each of the past 6 decades series
From 2000-2009, these names were as popular as low-rise jeans and trucker hats.Â
1. Jacob and Emily
2. Michael and Madison
3. Joshua and Emma
Joshua: 231,926
Emma: 181,257
4. Matthew and Olivia
5. Daniel and Hannah
Daniel: 203,720
Hannah: 155,698
6. Christopher and Abigail
Christopher: 203,289
Abigail: 150,868
The 50 most popular girl names of the last 100 years
What's in a name?
Names can be powerful personal expressions of the self, as well as carry tradition and meaning. While there are thousands of names to choose from, some monikers are simply more popular than others.
MooseRoots, a genealogy data site, found the 100 most popular girl names of the last century using 2016 data from the Social Security Administration. Popularity is determined by the total number of occurrences for baby names from 1916-2015 in the U.S.
Also included is the year in which the name was the most popular as well as the ranking of the name in that year. It should be noted that some names reached their popularity peak outside of the last century, but have stood the test of time and still appear on this list.
These names act like a roadmap through female history, paying tribute to icons of the past and giving nods to influential women of the present. Some of most popular names have been given to notable women, including: civil and women's rights activist Dorothy Height, supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, iconic actress Marilyn Monroe and contemporary comedian Amy Schumer.
Note: Each name is accompanied by an image of a notable female of the same name.
#50. Heather
Number of Occurences: 523,880
Most Popular Year: 1975
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#49. Rachel
Number of Occurences: 545,246
Most Popular Year: 1996
Rank in Most Popular Year: 9
#48. Carolyn
Number of Occurences: 546,036
Most Popular Year: 1942
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#47. Janet
Number of Occurences: 547,960
Most Popular Year: 1938
Rank in Most Popular Year: 16
#46. Debra
Number of Occurences: 548,254
Most Popular Year: 1956
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#45. Samantha
Number of Occurences: 559,433
Most Popular Year: 1998
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#44. Christine
Number of Occurences: 569,735
Most Popular Year: 1970
Rank in Most Popular Year: 14
#43. Catherine
Number of Occurences: 578,650
Most Popular Year: 1917
Rank in Most Popular Year: 18
#42. Nicole
Number of Occurences: 581,755
Most Popular Year: 1982
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#41. Katherine
Number of Occurences: 583,340
Most Popular Year: 1991
Rank in Most Popular Year: 25
#40. Virginia
Number of Occurences: 588,290
Most Popular Year: 1921
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#39. Pamela
Number of Occurences: 592,691
Most Popular Year: 1953
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#38. Brenda
Number of Occurences: 605,611
Most Popular Year: 1961
Rank in Most Popular Year: 11
#37. Ruth
Number of Occurences: 655,204
Most Popular Year: 1893
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#36. Angela
Number of Occurences: 655,780
Most Popular Year: 1976
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#35. Anna
Number of Occurences: 672,203
Most Popular Year: 1899
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#34. Amy
Number of Occurences: 676,479
Most Popular Year: 1976
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#33. Shirley
Number of Occurences: 676,952
Most Popular Year: 1936
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#32. Kathleen
Number of Occurences: 697,829
Most Popular Year: 1949
Rank in Most Popular Year: 9
#31. Cynthia
Number of Occurences: 704,835
Most Popular Year: 1957
Rank in Most Popular Year: 7
#30. Sharon
Number of Occurences: 720,471
Most Popular Year: 1945
Rank in Most Popular Year: 8
#29. Rebecca
Number of Occurences: 728,673
Most Popular Year: 1974
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#28. Laura
Number of Occurences: 732,654
Most Popular Year: 1969
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#27. Stephanie
Number of Occurences: 735,098
Most Popular Year: 1987
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#26. Deborah
Number of Occurences: 738,780
Most Popular Year: 1955
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#25. Melissa
Number of Occurences: 748,849
Most Popular Year: 1979
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#24. Amanda
Number of Occurences: 770,793
Most Popular Year: 1980
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#23. Helen
Number of Occurences: 786,569
Most Popular Year: 1919
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#22. Emily
Number of Occurences: 797,386
Most Popular Year: 2007
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#21. Michelle
Number of Occurences: 805,932
Most Popular Year: 1972
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#20. Carol
Number of Occurences: 810,812
Most Popular Year: 1941
Rank in Most Popular Year: 4
#19. Donna
Number of Occurences: 826,032
Most Popular Year: 1960
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#18. Kimberly
Number of Occurences: 830,784
Most Popular Year: 1967
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#17. Ashley
Number of Occurences: 837,521
Most Popular Year: 1992
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#16. Sandra
Number of Occurences: 872,565
Most Popular Year: 1947
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#15. Lisa
Number of Occurences: 963,755
Most Popular Year: 1969
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#14. Dorothy
Number of Occurences: 965,414
Most Popular Year: 1927
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#13. Betty
Number of Occurences: 969,245
Most Popular Year: 1934
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#12. Nancy
Number of Occurences: 977,902
Most Popular Year: 1950
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#11. Karen
Number of Occurences: 983,705
Most Popular Year: 1965
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#10. Sarah
Number of Occurences: 997,487
Most Popular Year: 1993
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#9. Margaret
Number of Occurences: 1,039,138
Most Popular Year: 1911
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#8. Jessica
Number of Occurences: 1,040,806
Most Popular Year: 1995
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#7. Susan
Number of Occurences: 1,107,120
Most Popular Year: 1960
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#6. Barbara
Number of Occurences: 1,415,983
Most Popular Year: 1944
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#5. Linda
Number of Occurences: 1,447,765
Most Popular Year: 1952
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#4. Elizabeth
Number of Occurences: 1,454,754
Most Popular Year: 1892
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#3. Jennifer
Number of Occurences: 1,463,714
Most Popular Year: 1984
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#2. Patricia
Number of Occurences: 1,565,942
Most Popular Year: 1952
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#1. Mary
Number of Occurences: 3,514,032
Most Popular Year: 1961
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
The 50 most popular boy names of the last 100 years
Most popular boy names of the last century
What do Ryan Gosling, Donald Trump, Albert Einstein and Mark Zuckerberg have in common? Stumped? Here's the answer: they are all recipients of some of the most popular boy names of the last century.
MooseRoots, a genealogy data site, discovered the 100 most popular boy names from of the last century using 2016 data from the Social Security Administration. Popularity is determined by the total number of occurrences of baby names from 1916-2015 in the U.S.
Also included is the year in which the name was the most popular, as well as the ranking of the name in that year. It should be noted that some names reached their popularity peak outside of the last century, but have stood the test of time and still appear on this list.
Some interesting trends can be analyzed from the list of 100. The name "Christian" peaked in popularity in 2006 after actor Christian Bale starred in "Batman Begins" in 2005. The name "Daniel" peaked in popularity in 2008, right in the midst of the mania of the "Harry Potter" franchise, in which actor Daniel Radcliffe played the lead character. Although these relationships are not proven correlations, it is interesting to see how names could potentially act as maps through popular culture and history. Scroll through the slides to discover more of the most popular names of the last century.
Note: Each name is accompanied by an image of a notable male of the same name.
#50. Jerry
Number of Occurrences: 604,320
Most Popular Year: 1941
Rank in Most Popular Year: 14
#49. Dennis
Number of Occurrences: 611,452
Most Popular Year: 1949
Rank in Most Popular Year: 16
#48. Alexander
Number of Occurrences: 623,641
Most Popular Year: 2009
Rank in Most Popular Year: 4
#47. Jack
Number of Occurrences: 631,750
Most Popular Year: 1930
Rank in Most Popular Year: 14
#46. Patrick
Number of Occurrences: 658,294
Most Popular Year: 1968
Rank in Most Popular Year: 30
#45. Benjamin
Number of Occurrences: 684,442
Most Popular Year: 2015
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#44. Samuel
Number of Occurrences: 687,646
Most Popular Year: 1884
Rank in Most Popular Year: 17
#43. Gregory
Number of Occurrences: 704,223
Most Popular Year: 1963
Rank in Most Popular Year: 21
#42. Raymond
Number of Occurrences: 717,602
Most Popular Year: 1919
Rank in Most Popular Year: 14
#41. Brandon
Number of Occurrences: 745,520
Most Popular Year: 1994
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#40. Justin
Number of Occurrences: 765,616
Most Popular Year: 1988
Rank in Most Popular Year: 7
#39. Frank
Number of Occurrences: 767,442
Most Popular Year: 1895
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#38. Scott
Number of Occurrences: 768,055
Most Popular Year: 1971
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#37. Larry
Number of Occurrences: 802,180
Most Popular Year: 1949
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#36. Jonathan
Number of Occurrences: 819,504
Most Popular Year: 1988
Rank in Most Popular Year: 15
#35. Stephen
Number of Occurrences: 842,151
Most Popular Year: 1951
Rank in Most Popular Year: 19
#34. Eric
Number of Occurrences: 867,872
Most Popular Year: 1976
Rank in Most Popular Year: 13
#33. Nicholas
Number of Occurrences: 876,707
Most Popular Year: 1999
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#32. Jacob
Number of Occurrences: 878,974
Most Popular Year: 2012
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#31. Gary
Number of Occurrences: 898,480
Most Popular Year: 1954
Rank in Most Popular Year: 9
#30. Ryan
Number of Occurrences: 908,402
Most Popular Year: 1991
Rank in Most Popular Year: 11
#29. Jeffrey
Number of Occurrences: 970,986
Most Popular Year: 1966
Rank in Most Popular Year: 9
#28. Jason
Number of Occurrences: 1,018,899
Most Popular Year: 1978
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#27. Timothy
Number of Occurrences: 1,060,589
Most Popular Year: 1967
Rank in Most Popular Year: 11
#26. Ronald
Number of Occurrences: 1,073,387
Most Popular Year: 1943
Rank in Most Popular Year: 9
#25. Kevin
Number of Occurrences: 1,158,193
Most Popular Year: 1963
Rank in Most Popular Year: 11
#24. Brian
Number of Occurrences: 1,159,931
Most Popular Year: 1977
Rank in Most Popular Year: 8
#23. Edward
Number of Occurrences: 1,161,014
Most Popular Year: 1923
Rank in Most Popular Year: 8
#22. Joshua
Number of Occurrences: 1,183,279
Most Popular Year: 2006
Rank in Most Popular Year: 3
#21. Andrew
Number of Occurrences: 1,235,374
Most Popular Year: 2003
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#20. Kenneth
Number of Occurrences: 1,245,190
Most Popular Year: 1939
Rank in Most Popular Year: 13
#19. George
Number of Occurrences: 1,245,503
Most Popular Year: 1911
Rank in Most Popular Year: 4
#18. Steven
Number of Occurrences: 1,274,181
Most Popular Year: 1961
Rank in Most Popular Year: 10
#17. Paul
Number of Occurrences: 1,324,932
Most Popular Year: 1931
Rank in Most Popular Year: 12
#16. Mark
Number of Occurrences: 1,341,184
Most Popular Year: 1964
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#15. Donald
Number of Occurrences: 1,382,078
Most Popular Year: 1934
Rank in Most Popular Year: 6
#14. Anthony
Number of Occurrences: 1,388,799
Most Popular Year: 2008
Rank in Most Popular Year: 7
#13. Matthew
Number of Occurrences: 1,559,938
Most Popular Year: 1996
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#12. Daniel
Number of Occurrences: 1,856,319
Most Popular Year: 2008
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#11. Christopher
Number of Occurrences: 2,001,860
Most Popular Year: 1994
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#10. Charles
Number of Occurrences: 2,178,265
Most Popular Year: 1883
Rank in Most Popular Year: 4
#9. Thomas
Number of Occurrences: 2,184,048
Most Popular Year: 1955
Rank in Most Popular Year: 8
#8. Joseph
Number of Occurrences: 2,411,191
Most Popular Year: 1917
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#7. Richard
Number of Occurrences: 2,504,113
Most Popular Year: 1947
Rank in Most Popular Year: 5
#6. David
Number of Occurrences: 3,547,628
Most Popular Year: 1960
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#5. William
Number of Occurrences: 3,714,280
Most Popular Year: 1920
Rank in Most Popular Year: 2
#4. Michael
Number of Occurrences: 4,297,063
Most Popular Year: 1998
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#3. Robert
Number of Occurrences: 4,626,414
Most Popular Year: 1953
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#2. John
Number of Occurrences: 4,676,131
Most Popular Year: 1923
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
#1. James
Number of Occurrences: 4,836,379
Most Popular Year: 1952
Rank in Most Popular Year: 1
7. Andrew and Isabella
Andrew: 202,449
Isabella: 149,509
8. Ethan and Samantha
Ethan: 201,775
Samantha: 134,267
A closer look at 2017's top 10 baby names
Photos: Meghan, Prince Harry present royal newborn Archie to public
9. Joseph and Elizabeth
Joseph: 194,724
Elizabeth: 133,411
10. William and Ashley
In this Series
A look at the most popular baby names in each of the past 6 decades
Total number of babies named Elijah:Â 136,649
While names like Donna and Richard may have fallen out of popularity, one thing has remained the same: Michael has been in the top 10 names fo…
