Alpha
Alpha was given to 6 girls in 2025, #13,294 among girls’ names; 10,045 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 3,110 Americans named Alpha and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (31% of everyone recorded); the median is 30 years old and half are between 13 and 70.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Alpha by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Alpha?
#13,294 among girls’ names, 2025
Alpha entered the girls’ rankings after 2015 and stood at #13,294 in 2025.
230 babies in 1917, the peak
Alpha peaked in 1917, when 230 babies were given it (191 girls, #469 among girls’ names). The 77 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 33% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | #13,294 | 71 | #2,079 |
| 2024 | 5 | #15,413 | 75 | #2,030 |
| 2023 | 8 | #11,242 | 54 | #2,479 |
| 2022 | 8 | #11,279 | 61 | #2,324 |
| 2021 | 10 | #9,602 | 49 | #2,626 |
| 2020 | 7 | #12,219 | 66 | #2,113 |
| 2019 | 17 | #6,713 | 67 | #2,130 |
| 2018 | 5 | #15,817 | 50 | #2,546 |
| 2017 | under 5 | 52 | #2,449 | |
| 2016 | 8 | #11,836 | 61 | #2,209 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | under 5 | 43 | #2,768 | |
| 2014 | under 5 | 43 | #2,755 | |
| 2013 | 5 | #16,709 | 41 | #2,803 |
| 2012 | under 5 | 38 | #3,004 | |
| 2011 | 7 | #13,431 | 33 | #3,310 |
| 2010 | under 5 | 44 | #2,731 | |
| 2009 | under 5 | 50 | #2,528 | |
| 2008 | under 5 | 50 | #2,515 | |
| 2007 | 7 | #14,012 | 46 | #2,643 |
| 2006 | 6 | #15,251 | 51 | #2,403 |
| 2005 | 9 | #10,955 | 41 | #2,654 |
| 2004 | 6 | #14,269 | 32 | #3,074 |
| 2003 | 6 | #13,939 | 40 | #2,542 |
| 2002 | under 5 | 38 | #2,556 | |
| 2001 | 10 | #9,386 | 39 | #2,485 |
| 2000 | 13 | #7,597 | 35 | #2,618 |
| 1999 | 8 | #10,384 | 33 | #2,605 |
| 1998 | 19 | #5,370 | 20 | #3,594 |
| 1997 | 22 | #4,660 | 17 | #3,881 |
| 1996 | 34 | #3,358 | 15 | #4,184 |
| 1995 | 5 | #13,487 | 14 | #4,283 |
| 1994 | under 5 | 13 | #4,538 | |
| 1993 | under 5 | 16 | #3,820 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 7 | #6,683 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 10 | #5,101 | |
| 1990 | 7 | #10,233 | 7 | #6,423 |
| 1989 | 12 | #6,545 | 12 | #4,271 |
| 1988 | 9 | #7,708 | under 5 | |
| 1987 | 6 | #9,871 | 5 | #6,981 |
| 1986 | 9 | #7,143 | 7 | #5,347 |
| 1985 | 10 | #6,472 | 8 | #4,711 |
| 1984 | 6 | #9,170 | 11 | #3,708 |
| 1983 | 10 | #6,232 | 14 | #3,073 |
| 1982 | 5 | #10,551 | 13 | #3,289 |
| 1981 | 11 | #5,897 | 11 | #3,608 |
| 1980 | 12 | #5,554 | 7 | #4,952 |
| 1979 | 12 | #5,436 | 15 | #2,902 |
| 1978 | 13 | #4,940 | 15 | #2,799 |
| 1977 | 12 | #5,218 | 7 | #4,604 |
| 1976 | 14 | #4,365 | 9 | #3,728 |
| 1975 | 11 | #5,168 | 11 | #3,252 |
| 1974 | 12 | #4,728 | 13 | #2,803 |
| 1973 | 15 | #3,977 | 12 | #2,857 |
| 1972 | 10 | #5,115 | 14 | #2,537 |
| 1971 | 17 | #3,652 | 10 | #3,151 |
| 1970 | 17 | #3,582 | 7 | #3,847 |
| 1969 | 11 | #4,427 | 10 | #2,867 |
| 1968 | 12 | #4,003 | under 5 | |
| 1967 | 8 | #4,992 | 9 | #2,764 |
| 1966 | 11 | #3,966 | 12 | #2,330 |
| 1965 | 20 | #2,743 | 8 | #2,987 |
| 1964 | 10 | #4,362 | 14 | #2,206 |
| 1963 | 22 | #2,624 | 8 | #3,045 |
| 1962 | 18 | #2,922 | 10 | #2,674 |
| 1961 | 21 | #2,675 | 12 | #2,415 |
| 1960 | 17 | #2,990 | 9 | #2,874 |
| 1959 | 29 | #2,107 | 10 | #2,664 |
| 1958 | 23 | #2,376 | 7 | #3,281 |
| 1957 | 20 | #2,563 | 15 | #2,094 |
| 1956 | 31 | #1,930 | 10 | #2,628 |
| 1955 | 21 | #2,410 | 8 | #2,969 |
| 1954 | 21 | #2,379 | 14 | #2,116 |
| 1953 | 23 | #2,172 | 11 | #2,391 |
| 1952 | 31 | #1,782 | 16 | #1,938 |
| 1951 | 35 | #1,610 | 13 | #2,138 |
| 1950 | 42 | #1,410 | 17 | #1,814 |
| 1949 | 33 | #1,627 | 19 | #1,703 |
| 1948 | 47 | #1,344 | 16 | #1,881 |
| 1947 | 53 | #1,238 | 13 | #2,171 |
| 1946 | 59 | #1,107 | 16 | #1,814 |
| 1945 | 43 | #1,212 | 11 | #2,132 |
| 1944 | 65 | #964 | 7 | #2,866 |
| 1943 | 51 | #1,123 | 11 | #2,280 |
| 1942 | 65 | #970 | under 5 | |
| 1941 | 52 | #1,013 | 15 | #1,823 |
| 1940 | 72 | #841 | 17 | #1,681 |
| 1939 | 61 | #898 | 10 | #2,289 |
| 1938 | 71 | #840 | 18 | #1,615 |
| 1937 | 77 | #778 | 16 | #1,757 |
| 1936 | 73 | #791 | 14 | #1,874 |
| 1935 | 91 | #705 | 20 | #1,540 |
| 1934 | 99 | #671 | 16 | #1,785 |
| 1933 | 88 | #693 | 18 | #1,646 |
| 1932 | 91 | #712 | 28 | #1,287 |
| 1931 | 102 | #656 | 23 | #1,459 |
| 1930 | 84 | #768 | 22 | #1,559 |
| 1929 | 100 | #698 | 15 | #2,004 |
| 1928 | 125 | #628 | 16 | #1,960 |
| 1927 | 159 | #562 | 30 | #1,350 |
| 1926 | 126 | #640 | 20 | #1,721 |
| 1925 | 143 | #609 | 25 | #1,495 |
| 1924 | 147 | #619 | 31 | #1,330 |
| 1923 | 161 | #567 | 26 | #1,461 |
| 1922 | 166 | #552 | 41 | #1,109 |
| 1921 | 179 | #529 | 30 | #1,360 |
| 1920 | 188 | #505 | 23 | #1,592 |
| 1919 | 189 | #487 | 27 | #1,385 |
| 1918 | 179 | #513 | 24 | #1,499 |
| 1917 | 191 | #469 | 39 | #1,063 |
| 1916 | 198 | #451 | 30 | #1,208 |
| 1915 | 182 | #455 | 30 | #1,181 |
| 1914 | 135 | #470 | 23 | #1,223 |
| 1913 | 148 | #403 | 25 | #996 |
| 1912 | 111 | #447 | 20 | #1,024 |
| 1911 | 110 | #385 | 9 | #1,193 |
| 1910 | 94 | #406 | 6 | #1,426 |
| 1909 | 86 | #395 | under 5 | |
| 1908 | 96 | #368 | 9 | #948 |
| 1907 | 87 | #376 | 10 | #870 |
| 1906 | 74 | #399 | 7 | #1,007 |
| 1905 | 73 | #394 | 5 | #1,236 |
| 1904 | 97 | #333 | 5 | #1,210 |
| 1903 | 85 | #341 | under 5 | |
| 1902 | 81 | #354 | 14 | #583 |
| 1901 | 71 | #360 | 12 | #598 |
| 1900 | 78 | #378 | 6 | #1,168 |
| 1899 | 88 | #319 | 6 | #931 |
| 1898 | 75 | #362 | 6 | #1,002 |
| 1897 | 75 | #339 | 11 | #652 |
| 1896 | 82 | #321 | 6 | #983 |
| 1895 | 75 | #330 | under 5 | |
| 1894 | 72 | #328 | 9 | #730 |
| 1893 | 62 | #340 | under 5 | |
| 1892 | 59 | #343 | 10 | #689 |
| 1891 | 59 | #325 | 7 | #768 |
| 1890 | 57 | #337 | 8 | #739 |
| 1889 | 58 | #321 | 7 | #796 |
| 1888 | 47 | #347 | 6 | #920 |
| 1887 | 42 | #328 | 5 | #931 |
| 1886 | 38 | #346 | 8 | #698 |
| 1885 | 35 | #337 | 12 | #548 |
| 1884 | 27 | #385 | 12 | #547 |
| 1883 | 32 | #314 | 11 | #556 |
| 1882 | 29 | #326 | 14 | #491 |
| 1881 | 27 | #301 | 9 | #596 |
| 1880 | 26 | #310 | 6 | #813 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Alpha a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 10,045 Americans recorded as Alpha, 72% are girls and 28% boys. In 2025 it went to 6 girls and 71 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Alpha: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Alpha, and how old are they?
3,110 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 31% of the 10,045 Americans ever recorded as Alpha. The median Alpha alive today is 30 years old; half are between 13 and 70.
The 2020 Census counted 4,116 people named Alpha (1,662 women and girls, 2,454 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 3,188 born in the U.S. The Census count is 29% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 403 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 567 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 333 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 276 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 709 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 806 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Alpha born?
The states with the most babies named Alpha are Kentucky, Texas and New York, with 42% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Kentucky is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 547 | not ranked | 2.9× |
| Texas | 526 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| New York | 444 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Oklahoma | 327 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Missouri | 286 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Arkansas | 200 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Virginia | 187 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Tennessee | 163 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Alabama | 122 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Minnesota | 111 | not ranked | 0.7× |
Where Alpha is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Alpha is most over-represented in Kentucky: since 1910 it was given 2.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Alpha with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 3 names spelled alike, given to 10,551 babies since 1880, Alpha is the most given (95% of them). In 2025 it was given to 77 of their 85 babies (91%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Alpha
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Alpha and names like it
- Compare Alpha and AlfaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sAlpha peaked in 1917.
- Kentucky’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Alpha since 1910.
- The top names of 1917The year the most babies were named Alpha.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Alpha alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with AMost given first.