Alex — #205 US boys' name
284,633 babies named Alex in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1993. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 99% of names given to boys today.
25% of everyone ever named Alex was born in this single decade.
7,641 babies were named Alex in 1993 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Alex
The Social Security Administration has registered 284,633 babies named Alex between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Alex currently holds the #205 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1993, when 7,641 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Alex performed strongest in the 1990s, accumulating 70,832 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Alex shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 40,245 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by New York and Texas. In total, SSA state-level files list Alex in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Alex 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 284,633 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.
Alex at a glance
Top 1,000 boys' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Alex popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1993)
- 7,641
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #205 among boys.
284,633 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1993 with 7,641 births in a single year.
Alex popularity over time — girls
9,749 total births recorded since 1915 (Alex as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Alex accounts for 3% of total recorded use across both genders.
Alex by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1990s
- 70,832 births that decade — 25% of Alex's all-time total
Alex decade highlights
- Peak decade 70,832 births
- Runner-up 63,779 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1990s was Alex's strongest decade
70,832 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 25% of all-time use.
Alex by state
Where Alex concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 40,245 | 14.1% |
| #2 | New York | | 22,305 | 7.8% |
| #3 | Texas | | 22,270 | 7.8% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 14,201 | 5.0% |
| #5 | Florida | | 12,753 | 4.5% |
| #6 | Pennsylvania | | 11,388 | 4.0% |
| #7 | Ohio | | 10,822 | 3.8% |
| #8 | Michigan | | 9,584 | 3.4% |
40,245 of 284,633 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- California 14.1% of nationwide
- New York 7.8% of nationwide
- Texas 7.8% of nationwide
- Illinois 5.0% of nationwide
- Florida 4.5% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
California accounts for 14.1% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Alex appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.