Rankings

Most Popular Boy Names of the 2020s

The top 50 boy names by total births in the 2020s decade so far.

Liam
#1 name
50
names ranked

Data updated Jun 2026

The verdict

Liam tops most popular boy names of the 2020s at 124,842 -- it takes just 35,125 to crack this 50-name list, a 3.6x spread from #1 to #50.

124,842
Liam, #1
35,125
Charles, #50 (the cutoff)
3.6x
spread, top to bottom

Same ranked rows that render the table below -- row 1 here is row 1 there.

Liam tops the most popular boy names of the 2020s list with a decade total of 124,842.

According to Social Security Administration data, Liam leads the most popular boy names of the 2020s ranking at 124,842, ahead of Noah (116,024) and Oliver (89,293). This ranking covers 50 names total, sorted by decade total from SSA birth-registration files.

  • Liam #1 by decade total
  • Noah #2
  • 50 names ranked

What This Ranking Tells Us

These are the most given boy names of the 2020s based on Social Security Administration birth records. Liam has dominated the top spot since 2017, followed closely by Noah and Oliver. The 2020s show a continued shift toward short, classic names with soft consonants. Biblical names (Elijah, James, Benjamin) remain perennial favorites alongside newer entries like Theodore and Mateo. Regional variation exists, state-level data shows different preferences in the South, Midwest, and coasts.

What the Data Says About This Ranking

This ranking lists 50 names drawn from the Social Security Administration's baby-name archive, filtered and sorted by decade total. The #1 entry is Liam with a decade total of 124,842, followed by Noah at 116,024 and Oliver at 89,293. The bottom of the list, Charles (35,125), helps define the cutoff qualifying a name for inclusion here. Every name in this ranking meets the SSA's five-occurrence minimum threshold for public disclosure, so private rare names are excluded from consideration.

Across all 50 ranked entries, the average decade total is 52,488, giving a statistical center of gravity for what "popular" means in this specific ranking context. These are the most given boy names of the 2020s based on Social Security Administration birth records. Rankings of this type are sensitive to how the underlying data is cut: a top-50 list reflects different signals than a top-500 list, and combining spelling variants (Sophia + Sofia) versus keeping them separate, as the SSA does, produces materially different orderings. The rankings displayed here use the SSA's raw spelling-specific data without combining variants.

Because the SSA updates its baby-name files annually (typically each May), this ranking can shift year over year as new birth cohorts are added and historical revisions are applied. Names that appear to be rising or falling should be interpreted against the five-year-minimum sample sizes SSA requires; short-term movement on a single-year basis can be noisy. Source: Social Security Administration, Baby Names Data. This page summarizes publicly released SSA data and is provided for research and informational purposes only; it is not intended as personal naming advice or a recommendation of any specific name for a given child.

Most Popular Boy Names of the 2020s

Ranked by decade total, each row links to the full name profile

  1. 1
    Liam 124,842
  2. 2
    Noah 116,024
  3. 3
    Oliver 89,293
  4. 4
    James 72,523
  5. 5
    Elijah 72,049
  6. 6
    William 68,067
  7. 7
    Henry 68,047
  8. 8
    Lucas 65,795
  9. 9
    Theodore 65,579
  10. 10
    Benjamin 64,922
  11. 11
    Mateo 62,272
  12. 12
    Levi 57,122
  13. 13
    Sebastian 53,454
  14. 14
    Jack 53,384
  15. 15
    Daniel 52,726
  16. 16
    Michael 52,631
  17. 17
    Alexander 51,145
  18. 18
    Ethan 50,594
  19. 19
    Samuel 50,328
  20. 20
    Owen 48,832
  21. 21
    John 48,370
  22. 22
    Asher 47,998
  23. 23
    Ezra 47,728
  24. 24
    Leo 47,481
  25. 25
    Jackson 47,360
  26. 26
    Mason 47,313
  27. 27
    Hudson 46,951
  28. 28
    Joseph 46,334
  29. 29
    David 45,615
  30. 30
    Jacob 45,178
  31. 31
    Julian 44,640
  32. 32
    Logan 44,192
  33. 33
    Luke 44,149
  34. 34
    Luca 44,138
  35. 35
    Matthew 44,052
  36. 36
    Wyatt 42,814
  37. 37
    Aiden 42,793
  38. 38
    Elias 42,605
  39. 39
    Gabriel 41,496
  40. 40
    Dylan 41,138
  41. 41
    Grayson 40,746
  42. 42
    Isaac 39,997
  43. 43
    Thomas 39,782
  44. 44
    Carter 39,334
  45. 45
    Maverick 39,317
  46. 46
    Anthony 39,033
  47. 47
    Santiago 37,145
  48. 48
    Jayden 36,062
  49. 49
    Miles 35,899
  50. 50
    Charles 35,125

Source Social Security Administration, Baby Names Data · 2026-06-08

The bar to make this list

Where the #50 cutoff (Charles, 35,125) sits among boy names with any 2020s births

35,125 Top 1% higher than 99% of 22,227 boy names with any 2020s births

5–12,489: 22,048 boy names with any 2020s births (99%). Below this entry. 12,489–24,972: 99 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Below this entry. 24,972–37,456: 34 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). This entry sits in this band. 37,456–49,940: 27 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Above this entry. 49,940–62,424: 9 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Above this entry. 62,424–74,907: 7 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Above this entry. 74,907–87,391: 0 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Above this entry. 87,391–99,875: 1 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Above this entry. 99,875–112,358: 0 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Above this entry. 112,358–124,842: 2 boy names with any 2020s births (0%). Above this entry. #50 cutoff 5 124,842 every boy name with a 2020s birth, bucketed by value

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more boy names with any 2020s births. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source Social Security Administration, Baby Names Data · 2026-06-08

Source: Social Security Administration, Baby Names Data - U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications (ssa.gov).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology, names with fewer than 5 annual occurrences are excluded to protect privacy.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the SSA count baby names?

The SSA records the first name on every Social Security card application. Names with fewer than 5 occurrences in a year are excluded for privacy. The data covers approximately 96% of all births in the United States. It does not include middle names or alternate spellings unless they appear on the SS card.

Why has Liam been #1 for so long?

Liam's continued popularity likely reflects a mix of commonly cited factors: it's short (one syllable), easy to pronounce across languages, carries Irish/English heritage appeal, and sounds both modern and timeless. Frequent use in film, television, and celebrity families may also reinforce it. The SSA data confirms the ranking itself; the reasons behind it are informed interpretation, not something the birth-record data can directly measure.

Do these rankings count name variations separately?

Yes. The SSA counts each spelling as a separate name. Jayden, Jaden, and Jaiden are three different entries. If variations were combined, some names would rank higher. This is why traditional names with one standard spelling (James, William) may appear more dominant than trendy names with many spellings.

Nearby Rankings

Top 2020s Girls Rising Girl Names Rising Boy Names Gender-Neutral All-Time Popular

Compare top two: Liam vs Noah → or pick any two names →

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Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from the U.S. Social Security Administration. See our methodology for details.

According to the Social Security Administration, as of June 2026 this ranking is computed directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files, which document 105,966 distinct names across 2,181,032 national year-by-name records spanning 1880-2025.

What to do with this ranking

  • Liam leads this list at 124,842, 3.6x the #50 entry (Charles, 35,125) -- a comparatively even spread across the list.
  • See Liam's full history -- year-by-year SSA data, decade breakdown, and state popularity. Liam's profile
  • Want to weigh two names from this list against each other? Compare names

Every name in this ranking meets the SSA's five-occurrence minimum threshold for public disclosure.

Cite this page

NameAlmanac Editorial. "Most Popular Boy Names of the 2020s: Liam Is #1." NameAlmanac. Accessed via https://namealmanac.com/rankings/top-2020s-boys. Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This decade total ranking is computed directly from the SSA's raw name files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.