Our reading of data from the U.S. Social Security Administration. Spot an error? Tell us at hello@adatastory.com.
In 1947, 99,692 American girls were named Linda. In 2025, 294 were. Every name has its moment. Here are 146 years of them.
From 1880 to 1961, only Linda, from 1947 to 1952, took the top spot from Mary. Boys' names changed even less often: just eight names have ever been number one. John held it for the first 44 years of the records, and Michael for 44 years too, from 1954 to 1998, with a single year for David in 1960.
Today it's Liam, number one since 2017, and Olivia, since 2019.
Parents have spread out. The records show 1,889 different names in 1880 and 28,638 in 2025. The ten most popular boys' names went from 33.8% of boys in 1950 to 8.0% in 2025. For girls, the top ten fell from 24.1% to 7.0%.
Popular names rise and fall in waves. Linda peaked in 1947 with 99,692 babies, Debra in 1955, Lisa in 1965, Jennifer in 1972, and Jessica and Ashley in 1987. In 2025, each was given to fewer than 2,000 girls. Debra went to just 31.
Khaleesi, a title from Game of Thrones, first appears in the records in 2011, the year the series premiered, and reached 565 girls in 2018. Arya, another of its characters, went from 113 girls in 2005 to 3,051 in 2019. Elsa doubled the year after Frozen came out, from 566 in 2013 to 1,140 in 2014, then faded to 216.
Nevaeh, heaven spelled backwards, doesn't appear before 1997 and reached 6,818 girls in 2007. The dates line up, but a chart like this shows timing, not cause.