50 Least and Most Common Baby Names for Boys and Girls

July 24, 2020 5 min read

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.



Also in Blog

Newborn Essentials - Checklist for 2021
Newborn Essentials - Checklist for 2021

July 13, 2021 6 min read

How Much do You Know About Pregnancy Exercises? Take This Quiz to Find Out!
How Much do You Know About Pregnancy Exercises? Take This Quiz to Find Out!

June 21, 2021 3 min read

Preparing for the Second Trimester? Take This Quiz to See How Ready You Are!
Preparing for the Second Trimester? Take This Quiz to See How Ready You Are!

June 21, 2021 3 min read

Alt Alt Alt Alt

Alt Alt Alt Alt