State name profile

Most Popular Baby Names in Georgia

The boys' and girls' names most often given in Georgia, ranked by total recorded births in Social Security Administration state data, 1910–2025.

James
#1 boy name
Mary
#1 girl name
3,287,260
Births recorded
1910–2025
Years covered

Georgia's all-time #1 names are James for boys and Mary for girls, based on 3,287,260 SSA birth registrations since 1910.

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Georgia has recorded 3,287,260 births across its top 50 boy and top 50 girl names since 1910. James leads all boys with 187,301 births, while Mary tops the girls with 125,808. This profile covers decade-by-decade leaders and the full top-50 rankings for both sexes.

  • James #1 boy name
  • Mary #1 girl name
  • 3,287,260 births recorded

Data updated Jun 2026

What the Data Says About Baby Names in Georgia

The Social Security Administration has registered 3,287,260 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Georgia from 1910 through 2025, the portion of state-level naming data released publicly. Among boys, James leads with 187,301 cumulative births, while Mary tops the girl rankings with 125,808 births. The top 50 boy names collectively account for 2,037,399 births versus 1,249,861 for the top 50 girl names, reflecting the typical U.S. pattern in which boy-name distributions are more concentrated among fewer high-frequency entries. SSA state files include any name appearing five or more times in a given state-year, so lower-frequency names are suppressed for privacy and are not counted in these totals.

Decade-by-decade data for Georgia extends back to 1910, making it possible to track how Georgia parents' naming choices have shifted across more than a century of birth records. In the 1910s, the #1 boy name was James and the #1 girl name was Mary. By the 2020s, the top names had shifted to Noah for boys and Olivia for girls. Across 12 decades with complete data, the turnover in #1 rankings reflects broader cultural and generational forces, baby-boom naming conformity, the 1970s individualism shift, and the current resurgence of short, classic names.

Because Georgia reports under the same SSA framework as every other jurisdiction, these figures are directly comparable across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The cumulative totals reflect every recorded birth registration rather than a survey sample, though names with four or fewer annual occurrences are excluded per SSA privacy policy. This means the true naming distribution in Georgia is slightly broader than what appears here, particularly for rare and emerging names. The dataset does not distinguish between alternate spellings (for example, Sophia and Sofia are tracked as separate names) or middle names, and reflects first names as they appear on Social Security card applications only. This page is for informational and research purposes.

Top 10 girls' names in Georgia

Cumulative births recorded in state SSA files (1910–2025)

births

What this shows Mary leads Georgia girls with 125,808 recorded births.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration As of Georgia · 1910–2025

Top 10 boys' names in Georgia

Cumulative births recorded in state SSA files (1910–2025)

births

What this shows James leads Georgia boys with 187,301 recorded births.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration As of Georgia · 1910–2025

Decade-by-Decade Leaders

The #1 boy and girl name in Georgia for each decade

How we calculated this

For each decade, we sum every year's SSA state-level birth count per name, then take the single name with the highest ten-year total for each sex. A name can lead a decade with a strong single peak year or with steady, moderate demand across all ten years, the total treats both the same way.

Boy Top 50 Boy Names

# Name Total Births
1 James 187,301
2 William 138,034
3 John 125,942
4 Robert 110,568
5 Michael 91,691
6 Charles 79,249
7 David 78,425
8 Christopher 64,038
9 Willie 60,684
10 Thomas 56,326
11 Joseph 53,990
12 Richard 42,541
13 Joshua 40,767
14 George 40,004
15 Matthew 37,327
16 Daniel 34,860
17 Anthony 32,591
18 Andrew 32,159
19 Kenneth 30,731
20 Henry 30,692
21 Larry 29,056
22 Timothy 28,651
23 Jonathan 27,040
24 Samuel 26,982
25 Brandon 26,668
26 Jacob 25,625
27 Jason 25,191
28 Benjamin 24,911
29 Donald 23,924
30 Justin 23,744
31 Edward 23,724
32 Jerry 22,813
33 Bobby 22,481
34 Johnny 22,348
35 Kevin 21,981
36 Walter 21,658
37 Steven 21,203
38 Mark 20,876
39 Paul 20,516
40 Brian 20,499
41 Ronald 20,457
42 Jack 20,300
43 Charlie 19,516
44 Jimmy 19,499
45 Stephen 18,920
46 Gregory 18,889
47 Eric 18,494
48 Nicholas 18,300
49 Billy 18,029
50 Alexander 17,184

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

# Name Total Births
1 Mary 125,808
2 Elizabeth 43,477
3 Betty 40,802
4 Annie 35,946
5 Sarah 35,786
6 Linda 35,649
7 Patricia 34,134
8 Jennifer 34,046
9 Barbara 33,317
10 Dorothy 32,072
11 Jessica 28,307
12 Ashley 28,289
13 Martha 26,827
14 Margaret 26,418
15 Emily 25,234
16 Kimberly 24,767
17 Brenda 24,605
18 Emma 24,534
19 Angela 23,130
20 Amanda 22,754
21 Sandra 22,375
22 Shirley 20,648
23 Carolyn 20,460
24 Ruby 20,402
25 Lisa 20,065
26 Frances 19,734
27 Evelyn 19,660
28 Rebecca 19,615
29 Deborah 19,118
30 Cynthia 19,044
31 Laura 18,842
32 Stephanie 18,725
33 Susan 18,610
34 Anna 18,373
35 Helen 17,853
36 Donna 17,843
37 Melissa 17,687
38 Willie 17,661
39 Nancy 17,594
40 Katherine 17,225
41 Virginia 17,105
42 Sara 17,023
43 Pamela 16,610
44 Madison 16,445
45 Olivia 16,429
46 Hannah 16,105
47 Catherine 15,893
48 Mildred 15,754
49 Amy 15,680
50 Karen 15,381

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular baby name in Georgia?
The most popular boy name in Georgia is James with 187,301 births since 1910. The most popular girl name is Mary with 125,808 births. These rankings are based on cumulative SSA birth registration data.
How have baby names changed in Georgia over the decades?
Georgia's most popular names have evolved significantly. In the 1910s, the top names were James and Mary. By the 2020s, they shifted to Noah and Olivia. See the decade-by-decade breakdown above.
How many babies are named in Georgia?
Our data covers 3,287,260 name registrations in Georgia for the top 50 boys and top 50 girls names. The SSA records all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year, from 1910 through 2025.

What to do with Georgia's data

  • James (187,301 births) and Mary (125,808 births) are Georgia's all-time #1s -- see each name's national profile for how it compares outside Georgia. James's profile
  • In the 1910s, Georgia's top names were James and Mary; by the 2020s the leaders had shifted to Noah and Olivia -- the decade breakdown above shows every step between.
  • Curious how Georgia compares to another state? Browse the full state directory. All states

Rankings reflect SSA state-level files (1910-2025); names with fewer than 5 occurrences per state per year are suppressed for privacy and excluded from these totals.

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Nearby State Rankings

Compare baby names in Georgia with other state-level SSA rankings

Compare Georgia's #1 names side by side → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files, 1910–2025 (ssa.gov).

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

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 profile draws directly on the agency's state-level public-use files, which document 6,696,687 state-level records across all 51 reporting jurisdictions spanning 1910-2025.

Cite this page

NameAlmanac Editorial. "Most Popular Baby Names in Georgia - #1 James & Mary | SSA Data." NameAlmanac. Accessed via https://namealmanac.com/state/GA. 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 Georgia profile draws directly on SSA state-level 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.