The Cultural Evolution of U.S. Baby Names

The most popular baby names in the United States have once more been released by the U.S. Social Security Administration. The annual list dates back to 1880 and includes data on each of the 50 states.

Popular culture, whether that’s movies or social media influencers, are thought to play a role in the shifting popularity of baby names in the United States. For example, more than 4,500 children were named after characters from the popular TV series Game of Thrones in 2018. In 2024, four years after the series ended, 434 babies were named Khaleesi, seemingly in reference to one of the show’s leading female characters.

Other names likely influenced by specific people in the zeitgeist include Zendaya (after the “Euphoria” and “Dune” actress), which became most popular in 2022 with 430 births, as well as Kobe, which peaked in 2001 when 1,552 boys were given the name, with possibly links drawn to basketball star Kobe Bryant.

Between 1925 and 2024, Mary has been the name given to the most girls (2.9 million) and James to the most boys (4.5 million). Some names have remained favorites year after year, with Michael having remained popular over the decades, only pushed out of the top three for the first time since the 1950s in the 2010s.

Another trend highlighted by the U.S. Social Security Administration data is that names (particularly female names) have become more varied as the decades have passed. For example, where the most popular female name of Mary accounted for 2.3 percent of female births in 1961, the most popular girls name in 2024 (Olivia) accounted for just 0.8 percent of girl names.