State name profile

Most Popular Baby Names in Louisiana

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

James
#1 boy name
Mary
#1 girl name
2,062,996
Births recorded
1910–2025
Years covered

Louisiana's all-time #1 names are James for boys and Mary for girls, based on 2,062,996 SSA birth registrations since 1910.

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Louisiana has recorded 2,062,996 births across its top 50 boy and top 50 girl names since 1910. James leads all boys with 89,320 births, while Mary tops the girls with 78,977. This profile covers decade-by-decade leaders and the full top-50 rankings for both sexes.

  • James #1 boy name
  • Mary #1 girl name
  • 2,062,996 births recorded

Data updated Jun 2026

What the Data Says About Baby Names in Louisiana

The Social Security Administration has registered 2,062,996 births across the top 50 boy and top 50 girl names in Louisiana from 1910 through 2025, the portion of state-level naming data released publicly. Among boys, James leads with 89,320 cumulative births, while Mary tops the girl rankings with 78,977 births. The top 50 boy names collectively account for 1,278,085 births versus 784,911 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 Louisiana extends back to 1910, making it possible to track how Louisiana parents' naming choices have shifted across more than a century of birth records. In the 1910s, the #1 boy name was John and the #1 girl name was Mary. By the 2020s, the top names had shifted to Liam for boys and Amelia 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana 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 Louisiana

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

births

What this shows Mary leads Louisiana girls with 78,977 recorded births.

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

Top 10 boys' names in Louisiana

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

births

What this shows James leads Louisiana boys with 89,320 recorded births.

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

Decade-by-Decade Leaders

The #1 boy and girl name in Louisiana 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 89,320
2 John 85,000
3 Michael 66,334
4 Robert 64,425
5 Joseph 59,030
6 William 51,713
7 Charles 50,873
8 David 49,398
9 Christopher 37,426
10 Thomas 29,870
11 Richard 28,595
12 Donald 25,189
13 Kenneth 24,679
14 George 23,694
15 Joshua 23,575
16 Anthony 23,128
17 Willie 22,732
18 Paul 21,746
19 Edward 21,501
20 Daniel 21,102
21 Ronald 20,935
22 Kevin 20,608
23 Matthew 19,693
24 Henry 19,682
25 Mark 18,679
26 Larry 18,597
27 Brandon 18,509
28 Jason 17,481
29 Andrew 17,055
30 Louis 15,755
31 Brian 15,570
32 Frank 14,845
33 Steven 14,595
34 Jerry 14,462
35 Eric 14,402
36 Timothy 14,334
37 Patrick 14,113
38 Gregory 14,046
39 Jacob 13,991
40 Justin 13,875
41 Raymond 13,570
42 Jonathan 13,431
43 Stephen 13,153
44 Gary 13,074
45 Albert 13,019
46 Samuel 13,004
47 Nicholas 12,780
48 Ryan 12,564
49 Walter 11,489
50 Johnny 11,444

Girl Top 50 Girl Names

# Name Total Births
1 Mary 78,977
2 Linda 26,500
3 Patricia 24,460
4 Elizabeth 24,172
5 Barbara 23,639
6 Dorothy 23,089
7 Betty 20,460
8 Jennifer 20,444
9 Ashley 17,769
10 Shirley 16,873
11 Sarah 16,183
12 Jessica 15,882
13 Lisa 15,447
14 Brenda 15,148
15 Sandra 14,954
16 Cynthia 14,863
17 Carolyn 14,666
18 Margaret 14,511
19 Karen 14,236
20 Helen 14,088
21 Angela 13,956
22 Gloria 13,610
23 Anna 13,300
24 Donna 13,232
25 Marie 13,215
26 Emily 13,105
27 Kimberly 12,863
28 Susan 12,857
29 Melissa 12,757
30 Sharon 12,730
31 Amanda 12,694
32 Michelle 12,674
33 Joyce 12,529
34 Laura 12,394
35 Rebecca 12,277
36 Emma 12,147
37 Pamela 11,887
38 Catherine 11,878
39 Stephanie 11,706
40 Annie 11,584
41 Debra 11,448
42 Deborah 11,404
43 Rose 11,179
44 Alice 10,508
45 Katherine 10,418
46 Evelyn 10,350
47 Amy 10,315
48 Doris 10,059
49 Ruby 10,017
50 Lauren 9,457

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the most popular baby name in Louisiana?
The most popular boy name in Louisiana is James with 89,320 births since 1910. The most popular girl name is Mary with 78,977 births. These rankings are based on cumulative SSA birth registration data.
How have baby names changed in Louisiana over the decades?
Louisiana's most popular names have evolved significantly. In the 1910s, the top names were John and Mary. By the 2020s, they shifted to Liam and Amelia. See the decade-by-decade breakdown above.
How many babies are named in Louisiana?
Our data covers 2,062,996 name registrations in Louisiana 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 Louisiana's data

  • James (89,320 births) and Mary (78,977 births) are Louisiana's all-time #1s -- see each name's national profile for how it compares outside Louisiana. James's profile
  • In the 1910s, Louisiana's top names were John and Mary; by the 2020s the leaders had shifted to Liam and Amelia -- the decade breakdown above shows every step between.
  • Curious how Louisiana 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 Louisiana with other state-level SSA rankings

Compare Louisiana'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 Louisiana - #1 James & Mary | SSA Data." NameAlmanac. Accessed via https://namealmanac.com/state/LA. 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 Louisiana 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.