SSA state-level birth records
Baby Names by State
How the names parents choose shift across the map, every U.S. state and the District of Columbia, ranked from the most popular picks to the regional favorites, drawn straight from Social Security Administration birth records since 1910.
- 51
- States + DC
- California
- Most births recorded
- 1910–2025
- Years covered
- 331M
- Named births
Names are local. A name that tops the charts in California can be a rarity two states over, shaped by migration, culture, language, and the slow churn of regional taste. According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, more than 331 million named births have been logged on the state-level file between 1910 and 2025 across all 51 jurisdictions. This page maps that record: pick a state to see its leading boys and girls names, how they have moved decade by decade, and which names are distinctly its own. See the methodology for how the agency’s five-birth disclosure floor shapes what appears in smaller states.
States with the most named births on record
Cumulative SSA state-file births above the five-birth disclosure floor, 1910–2025
- California
California
33,446,519 births
- New York
New York
25,832,525 births
- Texas
Texas
25,553,856 births
- Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
17,935,365 births
- Illinois
Illinois
16,484,702 births
- Ohio
Ohio
15,480,878 births
- Michigan 12,648,459
Michigan
12,648,459 births
- Florida 11,447,493
Florida
11,447,493 births
- North Carolina 9,597,543
North Carolina
9,597,543 births
- Georgia 9,368,996
Georgia
9,368,996 births
- New Jersey 9,242,220
New Jersey
9,242,220 births
- Massachusetts 8,213,855
Massachusetts
8,213,855 births
What this shows The ranking tracks population more than fashion: the largest states bank the biggest cumulative totals simply because more children are born there each year. The interest is in how the leading names within each state diverge.
All states & territories
Ranked by total named births on the SSA state file (1910–2025). Select a state for its full name rankings and decade history.
- 1 California 33,446,519 named births
- 2 New York 25,832,525 named births
- 3 Texas 25,553,856 named births
- 4 Pennsylvania 17,935,365 named births
- 5 Illinois 16,484,702 named births
- 6 Ohio 15,480,878 named births
- 7 Michigan 12,648,459 named births
- 8 Florida 11,447,493 named births
- 9 North Carolina 9,597,543 named births
- 10 Georgia 9,368,996 named births
- 11 New Jersey 9,242,220 named births
- 12 Massachusetts 8,213,855 named births
- 13 Indiana 7,926,947 named births
- 14 Virginia 7,595,197 named births
- 15 Missouri 7,456,004 named births
- 16 Tennessee 7,123,698 named births
- 17 Wisconsin 6,655,644 named births
- 18 Minnesota 6,163,259 named births
- 19 Alabama 6,143,935 named births
- 20 Louisiana 6,049,317 named births
- 21 Kentucky 5,816,248 named births
- 22 Washington 5,405,415 named births
- 23 Maryland 5,046,092 named births
- 24 South Carolina 4,858,777 named births
- 25 Oklahoma 4,551,265 named births
- 26 Iowa 4,430,195 named births
- 27 Mississippi 4,242,975 named births
- 28 Arizona 4,092,941 named births
- 29 Colorado 4,011,208 named births
- 30 Connecticut 3,668,373 named births
- 31 Arkansas 3,623,589 named births
- 32 Kansas 3,531,180 named births
- 33 West Virginia 3,118,003 named births
- 34 Oregon 3,035,930 named births
- 35 Utah 2,749,892 named births
- 36 Nebraska 2,456,568 named births
- 37 New Mexico 1,797,826 named births
- 38 District of Columbia 1,497,731 named births
- 39 Maine 1,472,936 named births
- 40 Idaho 1,322,199 named births
- 41 Rhode Island 1,222,600 named births
- 42 North Dakota 1,139,287 named births
- 43 South Dakota 1,130,783 named births
- 44 Nevada 1,113,187 named births
- 45 New Hampshire 1,052,148 named births
- 46 Hawaii 1,028,181 named births
- 47 Montana 1,019,300 named births
- 48 Delaware 683,868 named births
- 49 Vermont 576,192 named births
- 50 Alaska 465,495 named births
- 51 Wyoming 451,965 named births
Reading the map
State totals are dominated by population, so the map mostly shades dark where people are most numerous - California, Texas, New York, Florida. The real signal sits inside each state profile: the relative popularity of a name, the ones that over-index locally, and the decade in which a name peaked. A name can rank tenth nationally yet first in a single state, which is exactly the kind of regional fingerprint the state file exposes and the national rankings hide.
Because the SSA withholds any name used fewer than five times per state per year, the smallest jurisdictions, Wyoming, Vermont, the Dakotas, the District of Columbia, report fewer distinct names than their populations would imply. That floor protects privacy but means absence on a state profile signals rarity, not necessarily zero use. Every figure here is computed directly from the federal files rather than estimated or modeled.
Frequently asked questions
Why does state-level baby name data start in 1910, not 1880?
The Social Security Administration only began publishing names broken out by state of birth from 1910 onward. The national file reaches back to 1880, but state detail, the figures on this page, covers 1910 through 2025.
Which state has recorded the most births by name?
California leads every other jurisdiction with 33,446,519 named births logged on the SSA state file between 1910 and 2025, reflecting its long-running position as the most populous state.
Does the SSA suppress rare names in the state files?
Yes. To protect privacy, the agency withholds any name used fewer than five times in a given state and year. Smaller states therefore show fewer distinct names than their population alone would suggest, and our state totals count only names above that five-birth disclosure floor.
How do I see the most popular names for a single state?
Select any state below, or any tile on the map, to open its profile, which ranks the leading boys and girls names for that state and lets you drill into each decade from the 1910s to the 2020s.