50 Least and Most Common Baby Names for Boys and Girls

Every year the Social Security Administration puts out a list of the top baby names that were given the previous year. You can look at a list of top ten for the year, even a list of the top 1,000. However, this year is different. The SSA posted the following message on their website page:

“Out of respect and honor for all people and families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of the 2019 most popular baby names is being rescheduled to a to-be-determined date.”

The past decade has been focused on choosing names that are either unique or have a unique spelling for a traditional name. Aaron became Aryn, Jackson became Jaxon. In a world where uniqueness and individuality reign, names like Abcde, pronounced Ab-si-dee, are applauded and defended.

But have you noticed the recent trend towards more traditional, old-fashioned names? Names such as William, James, Charlotte, and Elizabeth are making a comeback in the popularity game. These names have a certain amount of formality and class to them, rather than being cutesy and trying to be unique.

Why now? Well, this could because of the 100-year rule. Have you ever heard of it? According to this rule, names that were trendy 100 years ago are resurfacing and becoming popular once again.

But why does this happen? It could be because today’s parent wants to honor their grandparents and great-grandparents by naming their children after them. Grandparents tend to be beloved and bring up comforting memories of love and caring, even indulgence. Good memories that deserve to be forever honored by naming your baby after them.

Another reason could be people’s association with those names. The names that were trendy during our parent’s generation are heavily associated with them. Because of this, some parents have difficulty imagining their children with those names.

We tend to dislike names that are from our parent’s generation or our own generation. Instead, we prefer something different, something that you do not hear every day. Old-fashioned names are now free from that association, making them more suitable for this generation.

There has also been a trend towards androgynous names, names that could be either a male or female name, such as Genesis and Jenesis. Or Jayden and Jaydon. This list of the most popular names shows you that the androgynous names have fallen out of favor for the most part. The male’s name is nice and masculine, while the female names bring forth images of feminine and class.

Although Emma is an old-fashioned name, it has been the most popular girl’s name for the last five years, coming in with a whopping 18,628 babies named. While Liam gained the number one spot two years ago with a very impressive 19,837 babies named, knocking Noah down a notch with only 18,267 babies named.

Check out the list of the 50 most popular male and female names from the Social Security Administration. The top 10 names have the number of babies that were blessed with each name.

Popular Names for Boys and Girls

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Most Popular Male Names Liam – 19,837 Noah – 18,267 William – 14,516 James – 13,525 Oliver – 13,389 Benjamin – 13,381 Elijah – 12,886 Lucas – 12,585 Mason – 12,435 Logan – 12,352 Alexander Ethan Jacob Michael Daniel Henry Jackson Sebastian Aiden Matthew Samuel David Joseph Carter Owen Wyatt John Jack Luke Jayden Dylan Grayson Levi Isaac Gabriel Julian Mateo Anthony Jaxon Lincoln Joshua Christopher Andrew Theodore Caleb Ryan Asher Nathan Thomas Leo

Most Popular Female Names Emma – 18,688 Olivia – 17,921 Ava – 14,924 Isabella – 14,464 Sophia – 13,928 Charlotte – 12,940 Mia – 12,642 Amelia – 12,301 Harper – 10,582 Evelyn – 10,376 Abigail Emily Elizabeth Mila Ella Avery Sofia Camila Aria Scarlett Victoria Madison Luna Grace Chloe Penelope Layla Riley Zoey Nora Lily Eleanor Hannah Lillian Addison Aubrey Ellie Stella Natalie Zoe Leah Hazel Violet Aurora Savannah Audrey Brooklyn Bella Claire Skylar

You can’t have a list of the most popular names for you to name your baby, without being curious about which names are on the least popular list. Well, wonder no more! This particular list tends to spotlight some of the more unique names that became popular due to a famous person but have since fallen out of favor.

Some of the names on this list were so popular, they saturated the name market and lost their desirability and uniqueness. You can walk into a school and find at least ten Graces and Caleb’s. Sometimes your favorite names become so overused that they are no longer desirable.

Some names were just too unique to catch on for popularity. Names like Javion and Taliyah tend to have a cultural ring to them and therefore they become undesirable because of their uniqueness.

But even the least popular names of Maliah and Markus had over 200 babies named after them. Maliah had 259 and Markus had 206. Granted, that’s not even a drop in the bucket when you consider the U.S. population of 382 million.

Here is the list of the top (or bottom, depending on which way you look at it) least popular names for boys and girls across the United States along with the number of babies blessed with those names.

Least Popular Names for Boys and Girls

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

Least Popular Female Names Maliah - 259 Kimora - 259 Elina - 259 Whitley - 260 Austyn - 260 Keilani - 261 Aiyana - 261 Kailyn - 262 Esperanza - 263 Emmarie - 208 Azaria Valery Ingrid Giavanna Vada Taliyah Jana Ann Zora Novah Micah Jayden Janessa Waverly Scout Sandra Robin Naya Margo Florence Ellison Wendy Giana Arden Jenesis Violeta Tinley Paola Bellamy Annalee Amia Queen Ezra Alisha Zola Jaylee Luella Joselyn Hadleigh Etta

Least Popular Male Names Markus - 206 Coleman - 206 Benton - 206 Randall - 207 Korbyn - 207 Kabir - 207 Gus - 207 Davian - 207 Archie - 207 Zavier - 208 Lian Immanuel Bishop Kylen Kalel Harlem Genesis Deangelo Bowie Benedict Torin Jesiah Ernest Decker Alaric Zev Gibson Forest Justus Harper Zahir Jad Howard Cedric Camdyn Ahmir Terrell Shepard Creed Marcellus Khari Jericho Javion Ira Idris Terrence Draven Camilo Reign Ralph

One thing about this least favorite list, is that possibly in 100 years, these names will be popular again. The United States will see a resurgence of names such as Wendy and Maliah, as well as Markus and Ralph. It could happen, wait and see.

Did your name show up on one of these lists? If it did not appear on the popular list or the not so popular list, that’s ok. Your name is one of the things that makes you unique. Own your name and be the best there is! If your name did not appear on either list, we want to hear from you. Share it in the comments for a big thumbs up.