The most common names among living Americans
Michael is the most common first name among Americans alive today: about 3.6 million by our estimate, 3.5 million of them men. James (2.9 million), John (2.7 million), David (2.7 million) and Robert (2.5 million) follow. Among women, Mary leads with about 1.7 million, then Jennifer (1.4 million), Elizabeth (1.1 million), Linda (1.1 million) and Jessica (1.0 million).
Men’s names fill the top of a combined list because they are more concentrated: the ten most common men’s names cover about 17% of living men in the estimate, the ten most common women’s names about 8% of women.
The most common names of all time
Since 1880, Social Security records show James given to 5,250,638 boys, just ahead of John (5,182,633) and Robert (4,849,730). Mary is the all-time girls’ name by a wide margin: 4,141,481 girls, more than twice Elizabeth (1,688,757). These are exact counts of babies with each name, not a model; the first-name tool adds the few girls named James and boys named Mary, so its totals are slightly higher.
The most common names by decade
Mary was the most common girls’ name of every decade from the 1880s through the 1950s. Lisa led the 1960s, Jennifer the 1970s, Jessica the 1980s and 1990s, Emily the 2000s, Emma the 2010s and Olivia the 2020s so far. For boys, John led until the 1910s, Robert in the 1920s and 1930s, James in the 1940s and 1950s, and Michael for four decades, the 1960s through the 1990s. Jacob, Noah and Liam followed.
How common is your name?
Look up any first name in the first-name tool: it shows how many babies got the name in any year from 1880 to 2025, its rank that year and its estimated living total. The rare names page covers the other end: names given every year for a century but never to many babies. For surnames, see the most common last names and the rarest last names in the 2010 Census.
How the estimate works
The living figures use the same model as our first-name lookup, following a method FiveThirtyEight published in 2014: each year’s babies with a name, times the share of that birth year still alive in 2026 in the Social Security cohort life tables for the 2026 Trustees Report. It counts only people born in the United States with Social Security numbers, leaves out immigration and emigration, and assumes people with a name die at the same rates as everyone of their sex and birth year. Social Security publishes a name only when at least five babies of a sex got it in a year. The methodology has the detail.
Good questions
What is the most common name in America?
Michael, with about 3.6 million living Americans by our estimate from Social Security birth records and survival rates. James has been given to the most boys since 1880: 5,250,638.
What is the most common female name in America?
Mary, with about 1.7 million living American women by the same estimate, and 4,141,481 girls since 1880, more than twice any other girl’s name.
What was the most popular name of the 1990s?
Michael for boys and Jessica for girls: the names given to the most babies born from 1990 to 1999 in Social Security records.
What are the most popular baby names now?
Liam for boys and Olivia for girls, the names given to the most babies born from 2020 through 2025. Noah and Emma were the most common of the 2010s.
Why are the most common names mostly men’s names?
Men’s names are more concentrated. The ten most common men’s names cover about 17% of living American men in our estimate, while the ten most common women’s names cover about 8% of women.