Top 100 US name Boys' name Peak 1984 576,860 births

Adam — #100 US boys' name

576,860 babies named Adam in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1984. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s10201890s8631900s10211910s44801920s44551930s24091940s24361950s37321960s229311970s917521980s1950841990s1069062000s710262010s506962020s18049
#100
of 14,243 boys in use

More common than 99.3% of names given to boys today.

1980s
Peak decade

34% of everyone ever named Adam was born in this single decade.

1984
Single peak year

23,940 babies were named Adam in 1984 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Adam

The Social Security Administration has registered 576,860 babies named Adam between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Adam currently holds the #100 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1984, when 23,940 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Adam performed strongest in the 1980s, accumulating 195,084 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Adam shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 61,007 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by New York and Texas. In total, SSA state-level files list Adam in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Adam in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 576,860 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.

Adam at a glance

Top 100 boys' name

Total births

576,860

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

1984

23,940 births that year

Strongest decade: 1980s

Current rank

#100

In the top 100

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Adam popularity over time — boys

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880

Top 100 boys' name
Peak year (1984)
23,940
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-10,000010,00020,00030,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 104

Adam popularity over time — girls

2,065 total births recorded since 1913 (Adam as girls' name)

Unisex variant — 2,065 births
-50050100150 202420142005199719891981197319651913 5

Adam by decade

Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance

Peak: 1980s
Peak decade
1980s
195,084 births that decade — 34% of Adam's all-time total
1880s10201890s8631900s10211910s44801920s44551930s24091940s24361950s37321960s229311970s917521980s1950841990s1069062000s710262010s506962020s18049

Adam by state

Where Adam concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Adam
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
61,007 10.6%
#2 New York
44,916 7.8%
#3 Texas
35,268 6.1%
#4 Ohio
32,053 5.6%
#5 Illinois
30,463 5.3%
#6 Pennsylvania
29,750 5.2%
#7 Michigan
26,531 4.6%
#8 Florida
20,677 3.6%
California share of Adam's total US births 10.6%
Even split

61,007 of 576,860 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Adam appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Adam?
576,860 babies have been named Adam since 1880. It currently ranks #100 among boys. The peak year was 1984 with 23,940 births.
When was Adam most popular?
Adam was most popular in the 1980s decade with 195,084 total births. The single peak year was 1984.
Where is Adam most popular?
The top states for the name Adam are California (61,007 births), New York (44,916 births), Texas (35,268 births).
How long has the name Adam been used?
Adam has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Adam?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Adan, Adalberto, Adair, Adarius, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

Keep exploring Adam

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Data Sources

Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.