Baby Name Categories

Every category on NameAlmanac is derived from the U.S. Social Security Administration's public baby-names release, which lists the first name on every Social Security card application filed for a U.S. birth since 1880. The SSA publishes two files: a national annual file (1880–2024) and state-level files (1910–2024).

Inclusion threshold: The SSA excludes any name appearing fewer than five times in a given year (or state-year) to protect individual privacy. This means rare and emerging names are not represented in our rankings until they cross that threshold.

Spelling variants are separate: The SSA treats each spelling as its own entry. Sophia and Sofia, Aiden and Ayden are counted independently. We follow the same convention, so combined-spelling pools would yield different rankings.

Ranking categories: Decade rankings sum annual births within each ten-year window. Year rankings reflect the single-year top 100. State rankings cumulate state-year records from 1910 onward. Fastest-rising rankings compare 2013 and 2023 counts with a minimum-sample floor.

Updates: The SSA typically releases the previous year's file each May, and we refresh all categories on this site within 30 days of the SSA release.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications (ssa.gov/oact/babynames/limits.html).