SSA baby-name records
Every name given to 5 or more U.S. babies in a year, 1880 through 2025, plus state-level records, from the Social Security Administration.
ssa.gov/oact/babynames ↗U.S. population now: 341,784,857
How many people have your name?
Look up any first name, last name or full name to see how many people in the United States share it, how popular it is, where it comes from and how it has changed since 1880.
- surnames in the Census file
- 162,253
- distinct first names tracked
- 105,940
- SSA births, 1880–2025
- 375,324,493
- of Americans covered by the surname file
- 86.0%
How the name counter works
Enter a name
Type a first name, a last name, or both. Case doesn't matter, and the lookup runs in your browser, so nothing you type is sent to us or saved.
We match it to federal records
The first name is matched against 375,324,493 Social Security birth registrations (1880–2025). The last name is matched against the Census Bureau's file of 162,253 surnames.
You get a full report
Births are weighted by how much of each generation is still alive, surnames are scaled to today's population, and full names are combined with a standard independence model.
Inside every report
See an example report Much more than a single number
Each name report brings together everything the federal records can tell you about a name.
Popularity score
A 0–100 score and a commonness percentile that place the name among all Americans.
Name character scorecard
Timelessness, momentum, modern feel and gender balance, all measured from birth records.
Popularity over time
Babies given the name every year since 1880, with the peak year and the current trend.
Gender distribution
How often the name was given to boys and to girls, with its rank on each list.
Meaning and origin
Where the name comes from and what it means, for thousands of common names.
Age distribution
The estimated ages of living people with the name, and their median age.
Decade-by-decade breakdown
Births, share of all babies and national rank in every decade.
State-wise distribution
Where babies with the name were born, and where it is most popular for its size.
Surname origins
The self-reported race and Hispanic-origin mix of a last name from the 2010 Census.
Similar names
Spelling variants and sound-alikes, so you can compare Jon with John or Katherine with Catherine.
The most common full names in America
These first-and-last name pairings are shared by the most living Americans, based on our model. Select one to see the full report.
- Michael Smith≈ 30,272 people · 1 in 11,290
- James Smith≈ 24,360 people · 1 in 14,031
- Michael Johnson≈ 23,950 people · 1 in 14,271
- John Smith≈ 22,744 people · 1 in 15,027
- David Smith≈ 22,560 people · 1 in 15,150
- Robert Smith≈ 21,412 people · 1 in 15,962
- Michael Williams≈ 20,139 people · 1 in 16,971
- James Johnson≈ 19,273 people · 1 in 17,734
- William Smith≈ 18,260 people · 1 in 18,718
Top baby names of 2025
3,315,343 babies in the SSA records for 2025 received 31,227 different names. These were the ten most popular for boys and for girls, with the change from 2024.
The most popular baby girl name in every state
Based on SSA state records for 2023. Open the full list to see the top boy name in each state as well.
AKCharlotte
MECharlotte
WICharlotte
VTAmelia
NHCharlotte
WAOlivia
IDOlivia
MTCharlotte
NDEvelyn
MNCharlotte
ILOlivia
MICharlotte
NYEmma
MACharlotte
OROlivia
NVOlivia
WYEvelyn
SDAva
IACharlotte
INCharlotte
OHCharlotte
PACharlotte
NJOlivia
CTOlivia
RICharlotte
CAOlivia
UTCharlotte
COCharlotte
NECharlotte
MOCharlotte
KYAmelia
WVAmelia
VACharlotte
MDOlivia
DECharlotte
AZOlivia
NMOlivia
KSAmelia
AROlivia
TNCharlotte
NCOlivia
SCOlivia
DCCharlotte
OKOlivia
LAAmelia
MSAva
ALOlivia
GAOlivia
HIIsla
TXEmma
FLOlivia
- Charlotte
- Olivia
- Amelia
- Ava
- Evelyn
- Other names
Top boy and girl name by stateShow
The most popular names of every decade
Names say a lot about when someone was born. These were the most common names given to babies in each decade.
| Decade | Top boy names | Top girl names |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | John, William, James | Mary, Helen, Margaret |
| 1910s | John, William, James | Mary, Helen, Dorothy |
| 1920s | Robert, John, James | Mary, Dorothy, Helen |
| 1930s | Robert, James, John | Mary, Betty, Barbara |
| 1940s | James, Robert, John | Mary, Linda, Barbara |
| 1950s | James, Michael, Robert | Mary, Linda, Patricia |
| 1960s | Michael, David, John | Lisa, Mary, Susan |
| 1970s | Michael, Christopher, Jason | Jennifer, Amy, Melissa |
| 1980s | Michael, Christopher, Matthew | Jessica, Jennifer, Amanda |
| 1990s | Michael, Christopher, Matthew | Jessica, Ashley, Emily |
| 2000s | Jacob, Michael, Joshua | Emily, Madison, Emma |
| 2010s | Noah, Liam, Jacob | Emma, Olivia, Sophia |
| 2020s | Liam, Noah, Oliver | Olivia, Emma, Charlotte |
Rarity guide
How rare is my name?
A name's rarity depends on how many living people carry it. The most common first name in the country, Michael, belongs to about 3,825,743 people, or 1 in 89 Americans. At the other end, thousands of names in the SSA files belong to only a few hundred people.
Full names are far rarer than either part alone. Even Michael Smith, the most common pairing in our model, comes to roughly 30,272 people. Most first-and-last combinations land in the hundreds or below, and many are shared by just a handful of people. Read the methodology to see how each number is computed.
| Label | living people |
|---|---|
| An American classic | 2M+ |
| Very common | 500K–2M |
| Common | 100K–500K |
| Uncommon | 25K–100K |
| Rare | 5K–25K |
| Very rare | 500–5K |
| Exceptionally rare | under 500 |
| Label | people |
|---|---|
| Extremely common pairing | 250K+ |
| Very common pairing | 50K–250K |
| Common pairing | 10K–50K |
| Uncommon pairing | 1K–10K |
| Rare pairing | 100–1K |
| Very rare pairing | 10–100 |
| One of very few | under 10 |
Names on the rise, and names fading away
Name popularity changes with each generation. These lists compare SSA birth counts for 2015 and 2025.
The most evenly split unisex names
Among names given to at least 200,000 babies, these come closest to an even split between boys and girls.
Did you know
What the numbers say about American names
1 in 126
Americans was a Smith at the 2010 Census: 2,442,977 people in all.
16.5%
of the U.S. population carries one of the 100 most common surnames.
1,238
names appeared in SSA records for the first time in 2025.
31,227
different names were given to babies in 2025, counting names used at least 5 times.
Where the name data comes from
Every figure starts from a U.S. government dataset. The full math is on the methodology page.
Census surname file
The U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 surname publication: exact counts and race/Hispanic-origin shares for all 162,253 surnames held by 100 or more people.
census.gov/topics/population/genealogy ↗Population estimates
The 2010 Census counted 308,745,538 people. The Census Bureau's Vintage 2025 estimate puts the U.S. population at 341,784,857 (July 1, 2025), which we use to scale older counts to today.
census.gov/newsroom ↗Questions
Frequently asked questions
How many people in the U.S. have my exact name?
Enter your first and last name in the search box above. We take the estimated number of living people with your first name (from SSA birth records, 1880–2025), multiply it by your surname's share of the population in the official Census count, and scale the result to today's population of about 341,784,857. No agency keeps a live registry of names, so the answer is an estimate.
How accurate is the name count?
Surname counts are exact for 2010: they come straight from the Census (for example, Smith had 2,442,977 bearers). First names are estimated from birth records using survival rates for each generation, which works well for common names. Rare names and full-name combinations carry wider margins.
What does the popularity score mean?
It is the share of Americans whose name is rarer than yours, on a 0–100 scale. A first name with a score of 90 is more common than the first names of 90% of people. For full names the comparison is against everyone's first-and-last-name combination.
Why can't you find my name?
Two privacy rules limit the source data. The SSA leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year, and the Census only publishes surnames held by 100 or more people. A missing name is usually very rare, very new, or spelled differently in the records, so try another spelling.
Why do other 'how many of me' sites show different numbers?
They use different data and different math. Many tools still rely on the 1990 or 2000 Census name files or raw birth totals with no survival adjustment, which overstates older names. We use SSA records through 2025, the 2010 Census surname file, survival-adjusted first names and the latest population estimate, and we publish the formulas.
Can I share my result?
Yes. Every report has a permanent link, such as /name/james/smith/, that you can copy or share on social media. First-name-only reports live at /name/james/ and last-name-only reports at /surname/smith/.
Do you store the names I search for?
No. The lookup downloads a small public data file and does the math in your browser, so your search never reaches our server. Your recent lookups are kept only in your own browser's storage, and you can clear them at any time.
Does this work for names outside the United States?
No. The figures describe the U.S. population only, because they come from U.S. government datasets. A name that is common elsewhere may still show a small U.S. count.
Out of 341,784,857 Americans
Find your name twins
Somewhere out there, other people share your name. It could be thousands of them, or only a few.