How the Name Census works

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Data source

All numbers come from the US Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, covering every year from 1880 to 2025. It’s a US Government work; the SSA states no license terms, but we credit it on every card anyway.

What’s excluded

SSA excludes any name given to fewer than 5 people of a given sex in a given year, for privacy. That means very rare names may show no data at all, or a lower total than the true count.

How rank is computed

“Rank now” is the name’s position by count within the most recent year, among names of the same sex (a name counts as one sex when it makes up at least 65% of that name’s total births; otherwise it’s ranked against the combined list, and we say so).

The city comparison

“That’s more people than live in ___” compares a name’s total historical count against a table of recent US city populations (Vintage 2023 (July 1, 2023) US Census Bureau population estimates). We only show a city if it’s within 15% of the name’s total — otherwise we show a plain count instead of guessing at a comparison. Under 5,000 total, we skip city comparisons entirely and show a rarity line against the current US population instead.

Last refreshed

September 12, 2026