Top 10 US name Boys' name Peak 2024 254,854 births

Oliver — #3 US boys' name

254,854 babies named Oliver in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 2024. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.

1880s22871890s20351900s20881910s86571920s109001930s67091940s60571950s49871960s33391970s37301980s41521990s65692000s209332010s981432020s74268
#3
of 14,243 boys in use

More common than 99.9% of names given to boys today.

2010s
Peak decade

39% of everyone ever named Oliver was born in this single decade.

2024
Single peak year

15,343 babies were named Oliver in 2024 — its busiest year on record.

What the Data Says About Oliver

The Social Security Administration has registered 254,854 babies named Oliver between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Oliver currently holds the #3 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 2024, when 15,343 babies received it in a single year.

Decade-level aggregation shows that Oliver performed strongest in the 2010s, accumulating 98,143 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Oliver shows a stable profile with only moderate drift from its peak decade. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in California, which accounts for 26,676 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Texas and New York. In total, SSA state-level files list Oliver in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.

No etymological entry is currently available for Oliver 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 254,854 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.

Oliver at a glance

Top 10 boys' name

Total births

254,854

Since 1880

145 years of records

Peak year

2024

15,343 births that year

Strongest decade: 2010s

Current rank

#3

In the top 10

As of 2024

Active since

1880

Recorded for 145 years

Last year on file: 2024

Oliver popularity over time — boys

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

Top 10 boys' name
Peak year (2024)
15,343
Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
-5,00005,00010,00015,00020,000 202420051986196719481929191018911880 234

Oliver popularity over time — girls

753 total births recorded since 1905 (Oliver as girls' name)

Unisex variant — 753 births
0102030 202420142002197619521939192619161905 9

Oliver by decade

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

Peak: 2010s
Peak decade
2010s
98,143 births that decade — 39% of Oliver's all-time total
1880s22871890s20351900s20881910s86571920s109001930s67091940s60571950s49871960s33391970s37301980s41521990s65692000s209332010s981432020s74268

Oliver by state

Where Oliver concentrates geographically — total births since 1880

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Oliver
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
26,676 10.5%
#2 Texas
18,873 7.4%
#3 New York
13,072 5.1%
#4 Florida
10,899 4.3%
#5 Illinois
10,239 4.0%
#6 Ohio
9,433 3.7%
#7 Pennsylvania
8,567 3.4%
#8 Michigan
7,654 3.0%
California share of Oliver's total US births 10.5%
Even split

26,676 of 254,854 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.

Oliver appears in 51 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Oliver?
254,854 babies have been named Oliver since 1880. It currently ranks #3 among boys. The peak year was 2024 with 15,343 births.
When was Oliver most popular?
Oliver was most popular in the 2010s decade with 98,143 total births. The single peak year was 2024.
Where is Oliver most popular?
The top states for the name Oliver are California (26,676 births), Texas (18,873 births), New York (13,072 births).
How long has the name Oliver been used?
Oliver has been recorded in Social Security data since 1880, spanning 145 years of data through 2024.
What names are similar to Oliver?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Olin, Olivier, Olivia, Olie, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

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.