Baby Names by Decade
Every decade below is ranked from the birth registrations of the United States, back to 1880. Not a list of names somebody thought sounded old-fashioned — the names children were actually given, in order, with the counts.
- 2020s Liam on top 37,732 names · 19,995,045 births
- 2010s Emma on top 45,658 names · 36,185,380 births
- 2000s Jacob on top 45,773 names · 38,321,399 births
- 1990s Michael on top 38,764 names · 37,387,242 births
- 1980s Michael on top 30,334 names · 35,573,172 births
- 1970s Michael on top 25,022 names · 31,917,580 births
- 1960s Michael on top 18,229 names · 37,481,946 births
- 1950s James on top 15,671 names · 39,397,334 births
- 1940s James on top 13,557 names · 29,337,404 births
- 1930s Robert on top 12,733 names · 21,196,047 births
- 1920s Mary on top 13,525 names · 22,915,283 births
- 1910s Mary on top 11,931 names · 14,789,277 births
- 1900s Mary on top 5,549 names · 4,275,064 births
- 1890s Mary on top 4,411 names · 3,355,345 births
- 1880s Mary on top 3,546 names · 2,404,624 births
Why the Decades Do Not All Go Back the Same Distance
Each country's statistics office decides how much history to publish. The United States has released annual name counts since 1880; several of the others begin in the 1990s or later. Switching country above changes how far back this page reaches, which is a fact about the records rather than about the names.
What "a 1950s Name" Actually Means Here
A name's position in a decade is the total number of children given it across those ten years, ranked against every other name in the same decade and country. So a name can lead one decade and be absent from the next — which is the whole reason these pages are interesting, and the thing an opinion piece about vintage names cannot show you.
If you are after names that are rare now rather than popular then, that is the rare baby names page, measured the same way from the same records.