| A Giant, Free & Official Baby Name Web Database | | | | page at gives you four different searches you can |
| Since virtually all new born babies in the U.S. are soon | | | | perform. |
| registered with the Federal government's Social | | | | 1. Popular Names by Birth Year - this report lets you |
| Security Administration (SSA), this branch of the | | | | see the top names for one year, and you can ask for |
| government collects the single best database of actual | | | | the exact statistical data (percent of total births or |
| baby names used in the U.S. This database is available | | | | number of births) to be shown for each name. This is |
| for free at a SSA website and is both surprisingly | | | | the report to use for top 100 baby names. |
| easy and fun to use - in other words, a great resource | | | | 2. Popularity of a Name - this report lets you see how |
| for top 100 baby names. | | | | the popularity of a name has changed over time. For |
| Top 100 Baby Names - Most Popular Names | | | | instance, type in 'Michael' and ask to see it over 100 |
| Did you know that the top 3 boy names in 2006 were | | | | year time span, and you'll see how it ranked each of |
| Jacob, Michael & Joshua, and top 3 girl names were | | | | the last 100 years. In fact 'Michael' was not so popular |
| Emily, Emma & Madison? Well, maybe you did, but | | | | 100 years ago (it was #48 in 1907), but it was the |
| how about the top 3 in 1960, or 1890? | | | | number 1 most popular boy name every year but one |
| Want to know the 1960 and 1890 top names? I'll tell | | | | from 1954 through 1998 - quite a streak! |
| you in a moment, but then read on to learn how to find | | | | 3. Top 5 names by State - this report is really fun? Do |
| and use the database yourself to find top 100 baby | | | | they use different names in Alabama than they do in |
| names, so you can see the top 50 or even top 1000 | | | | Maine? You bet! Select a year and see the top 5 |
| names for any year or decade. You can even see | | | | names for each of the 50 states. You can also click |
| them listed by state. | | | | on a link to see the top 100 names by state. |
| Okay, here you go: the top 3 names in 1960 for boys | | | | 4. Top 1000 names by decade - just pick a decade |
| were David, Michael and James, and for girls were | | | | and you'll see the top 1000 names averaged across |
| Mary, Susan and Linda; the top 3 names in 1890 for | | | | the entire decade. This is your 'big picture' view. |
| boys were John, William and James, and for girls were | | | | For each of these searches you just fill in 1 or 2 fields |
| Mary, Anna and Elizabeth. | | | | and click on the Go button. |
| Finding the SSA Baby Name Database | | | | Tips on Printing & Copying |
| It's easy to find the database and get your top 100 | | | | If you want to print out a page of top 100 baby names, |
| baby names, just type into your browser's address | | | | a useful tip is to select just the names or the table of |
| bar, or you can search for the database - in Google | | | | names you want and then in your browser's print |
| the SSA database website comes up #1 when you | | | | dialogue choose 'Selection' -- the browser will only print |
| search for 'social security baby names'. | | | | the highlighted selection. Or you can just print the entire |
| Using the Database | | | | webpage - they seem to come out nicely formatted. |
| The database is surprisingly easy to use. Our | | | | You can also select names or an entire table and |
| government should get thanks for providing such a | | | | copy it to your clipboard (Ctrl-C in Windows) and then |
| friendly service for top 100 baby names. The main | | | | paste it into a word processor. |