Cobain — #11638 US boys' name
195 babies named Cobain in U.S. Social Security records since 2004, with the highest year being 2017. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 18% of names given to boys today.
61% of everyone ever named Cobain was born in this single decade.
20 babies were named Cobain in 2017 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Cobain
The Social Security Administration has registered 195 babies named Cobain between 2004 and 2024, spanning 21 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Cobain currently holds the #11638 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2017, when 20 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Cobain performed strongest in the 2010s, accumulating 118 births during that ten-year window. Across the 3 decades of recorded activity, Cobain shows notable generational variation in parental adoption. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 7 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by . In total, SSA state-level files list Cobain in 1 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Cobain 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 195 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.
Cobain at a glance
Outside the top 1,000Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Cobain popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–2004
- Peak year (2017)
- 20
- Annual births at peak — across 21 years of records
Currently ranks #11638 among boys.
195 total births across 21 years of SSA records. Peaked in 2017 with 20 births in a single year.
Cobain by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 2010s
- 118 births that decade — 61% of Cobain's all-time total
Cobain decade highlights
- Peak decade 118 births
- Runner-up 49 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
2010s was Cobain's strongest decade
118 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 61% of all-time use.
Cobain by state
Where Cobain concentrates geographically — total births since 2004
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 7 | 3.6% |
7 of 195 births nationwide.
Top 5 states
- California 3.6% of nationwide
Recorded in 1 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
California accounts for 3.6% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
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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, 2004–2024 (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.