Trends & data stories
Every #1 name in American history
19 names · 11 girls · 8 boys · records through 2025
Since 1880, only a handful of names have ever worn the crown. Some still reign; others have wandered surprisingly far from the throne.
This guide has 19 names: 11 girl names and 8 boy names. Names whose all-time peak rank is #1, ordered by the year they reached it. Built from US Social Security birth records through 2025. Tap + beside any name to keep it on your shortlist as you read.
Before the names
This is the full royal lineage of American naming — every name that was ever the single most popular in the country, with the year it peaked and its rank today.
Girl names
11 names
- Mary#1 in 1880 · #125 today
- Linda#1 in 1947 · #902 today
- Lisa#1 in 1962 · #987 today
- Jennifer#1 in 1970 · #586 today
- Jessica#1 in 1985 · #665 today
- Ashley#1 in 1991 · #164 today
- Emily#1 in 1996 · #34 today
- Emma#1 in 2008 · #3 today
- Isabella#1 in 2009 · #7 today
- Sophia#1 in 2011 · #5 today
- Olivia#1 in 2019 · #1 today
Boy names
8 names
- John#1 in 1880 · #23 today
- Robert#1 in 1924 · #92 today
- James#1 in 1940 · #6 today
- Michael#1 in 1954 · #21 today
- David#1 in 1960 · #35 today
- Jacob#1 in 1999 · #43 today
- Noah#1 in 2013 · #2 today
- Liam#1 in 2017 · #1 today
Every rank and count here is published by the US Social Security Administration and refreshed each year when the new figures land. The method is stated at the top of this page.
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