The Top 100 Baby Names in the United States

If you’re based in the United States, yesterday (Friday, May 12th) was the country’s baby name data release day! It’s a huge deal for namenerds and expecting parents alike, giving us a chance to learn the most up-to-date information about popular baby names. Parents who worry that their child will share their name with too many classmates sprint to these lists, while enthusiasts giddily check their predictions and look for major shifts in the data.

While I didn’t end up writing predictions for the Top 100, I still find them very interesting to review. These are names that are universally considered popular, even outside of the top 10. Literally thousands of babies each year receive Top 100 names; in 2022, the names ranking #100 were given (respectively) to 3580 boys and 2702 girls, while the names ranking #1 were given to 20,456 boys and 16,573 girls. Many Top 100 names are some degree of classic, while others are either modern standards or ultra-trendy. And generally, these are baby names that are popular throughout the country, even if most of them aren’t popular in every single state.

Here are the Top 100 baby boys’ names in 2022, including rank changes from 2021:

Rank		Name	Babies	Rank Change
1		Liam	20456	0
2		Noah	18621	0
3		Oliver	15076	0
4		James	12028	+1
5		Elijah	11979	-1
6		William	11282	0
7		Henry	11221	+2
8		Lucas	10909	0
9		Benjamin	10842	-2
10		Theodore	10754	0
11		Mateo	10321	+4
12		Levi	9786	0
13		Sebastian	9341	+6
14		Daniel	9047	+2
15		Jack	8889	-4
16		Michael	8829	+1
17		Alexander	8673	-4
18		Owen	8546	+4
19		Asher	8350	+6
20		Samuel	8342	+3
21		Ethan	8271	-1
22		Leo	8250	+9
23		Jackson	8070	-9
24		Mason	7988	-6
25		Ezra	7943	+12
26		John	7930	+1
27		Hudson	7883	+7
28		Luca	7803	+14
29		Aiden	7799	-3
30		Joseph	7771	-2
31		David	7741	-1
32		Jacob	7603	-8
33		Logan	7575	-12
34		Luke	7344	-2
35		Julian	7268	-2
36		Gabriel	7186	+2
37		Grayson	7148	-2
38		Wyatt	7144	-9
39		Matthew	7025	-3
40		Maverick	6991	+7
41		Dylan	6698	+3
42		Isaac	6691	-2
43		Elias	6684	+5
44		Anthony	6554	-1
45		Thomas	6465	+1
46		Jayden	6462	-5
47		Carter	6326	-8
48		Santiago	6017	+15
49		Ezekiel	5993	+4
50		Charles	5889	0
51		Josiah	5763	-2
52		Caleb	5739	-1
53		Cooper	5609	+15
54		Lincoln	5599	-9
55		Miles	5540	0
56		Christopher	5535	-4
57		Nathan	5520	+2
58		Isaiah	5360	-2
59		Kai	5343	+11
60		Joshua	5146	-2
61		Andrew	5124	-4
62		Angel	5065	+5
63		Adrian	5018	-2
64		Cameron	4939	-2
65		Nolan	4910	-5
66		Waylon	4897	+3
67		Jaxon	4828	-13
68		Roman	4706	+7
69		Eli	4664	-5
70		Wesley	4644	+15
71		Aaron	4496	-6
72		Ian	4473	+9
73		Christian	4442	-1
74		Ryan	4372	-8
75		Leonardo	4347	+12
76		Brooks	4336	+2
77		Axel	4318	+1
78		Walker	4232	+51 (NEW)
79		Jonathan	4175	-2
80		Easton	4143	-9
81		Everett	4100	+1
82		Weston	4090	+13
83		Bennett	4082	+7
84		Robert	4051	-5
85		Jameson	4050	-5
86		Landon	4007	-13
87		Silas	3996	+4
88		Jose	3990	+1
89		Beau	3939	+5
90		Micah	3933	+17 (NEW)
91		Colton	3906	-17
92		Jordan	3878	-4
93		Jeremiah	3842	-10
94		Parker	3840	-1
95		Greyson	3750	-11
96		Rowan	3742	+10 (NEW)
97		Adam	3625	+7 (NEW)
98		Nicholas	3623	-6
99		Theo	3614	+43 (NEW)
100		Xavier	3580	0

The newest boys’ names in the 2022 Top 100 are Walker, Micah, Rowan, Adam, and Theo. The names that left the Top 100 are Hunter, Dominic, Carson, Austin, and Connor.

And here are the girls’ names:

Rank	Name	Babies	Rank Change
1	Olivia	16573	0
2	Emma	14435	0
3	Charlotte	12891	0
4	Amelia	12333	0
5	Sophia	12310	+1
6	Isabella	11662	+1
7	Ava	11039	-2
8	Mia	11018	0
9	Evelyn	9289	0
10	Luna	8922	+1
11	Harper	8191	-1
12	Camila	7965	0
13	Sofia	7254	+5
14	Scarlett	7224	+6
15	Elizabeth	6964	-1
16	Eleanor	6881	-1
17	Emily	6461	+4
18	Chloe	6445	+7
19	Mila	6445	+7
20	Violet	6434	+15
21	Penelope	6388	+2
22	Gianna	6385	-9
23	Aria	6368	-1
24	Abigail	6254	-7
25	Ella	6243	-9
26	Avery	6230	-7
27	Hazel	6125	+1
28	Nora	6119	-1
29	Layla	6058	-5
30	Lily	5966	+1
31	Aurora	5956	+5
32	Nova	5885	0
33	Ellie	5761	-3
34	Madison	5479	-5
35	Grace	5255	-1
36	Isla	5255	-3
37	Willow	5025	+2
38	Zoe	4984	+4
39	Riley	4886	-2
40	Stella	4830	+1
41	Eliana	4780	+7
42	Ivy	4772	+7
43	Victoria	4763	0
44	Emilia	4664	-4
45	Zoey	4488	-7
46	Naomi	4463	+8
47	Hannah	4451	-3
48	Lucy	4411	-1
49	Elena	4274	+4
50	Lillian	4226	+1
51	Maya	4208	+4
52	Leah	4169	-6
53	Paisley	4026	-1
54	Addison	3945	-9
55	Natalie	3932	+1
56	Valentina	3881	+13
57	Everly	3880	-7
58	Delilah	3853	0
59	Leilani	3834	+8
60	Madelyn	3709	+11
61	Kinsley	3679	-4
62	Ruby	3593	0
63	Sophie	3512	+13
64	Alice	3498	+1
65	Genesis	3427	+10
66	Claire	3365	-7
67	Audrey	3329	-7
68	Sadie	3278	+10
69	Aaliyah	3270	-8
70	Josephine	3236	+2
71	Autumn	3214	-5
72	Brooklyn	3191	-9
73	Quinn	3091	+7
74	Kennedy	3060	-4
75	Cora	3049	+12
76	Savannah	3034	-8
77	Caroline	3015	+4
78	Athena	3008	+20
79	Natalia	2995	0
80	Hailey	2993	-3
81	Aubrey	2982	-17
82	Emery	2961	+8
83	Anna	2944	+1
84	Iris	2922	+23 (NEW)
85	Bella	2888	-12
86	Eloise	2888	+23 (NEW)
87	Skylar	2881	-13
88	Jade	2871	+3
89	Gabriella	2858	-6
90	Ariana	2840	-2
91	Maria	2831	+14 (NEW)
92	Adeline	2812	+2
93	Lydia	2794	-4
94	Sarah	2780	-2
95	Nevaeh	2778	-9
96	Serenity	2775	-11
97	Liliana	2768	+7 (NEW)
98	Ayla	2735	+10 (NEW)
99	Everleigh	2708	+1
100	Raelynn	2702	+3 (NEW)

The newest names to the top 100 are Iris, Eloise, Maria, Liliana, Ayla, and Raelynn. The exiting names are Allison, Madeline, Rylee, Eva, Piper, and Peyton.

To break things down further:

• Luna entered the Top 10, expelling Harper.
• Leo, Ezra, Violet, and Mila entered the Top 25. These are the names we’re closely eyeing for Top 10 entry within a few years.
• Logan, Jacob, Avery, and Layla exited the Top 25. While they are still very popular, they are no longer as trendy.
• Santiago, Ezekiel, Lillian, Elena, and Naomi reached the Top 50. Lillian’s popularity peaked in 2010-11, but the rest are rather trendy.
• Josiah, Lincoln, Leah, Addison, and Everly exited the Top 50.
• Leonardo, Ian, Wesley, Cora, Quinn, Sophie, and Sadie reached the Top 75.
• Easton, Landon, Colton, Savannah, Aubrey, Bella, and Skylar exited the Top 75.

We can see a few pop culture influences hitting the Top 100! Violet and Eloise, which were already trending, likely were boosted even further by Bridgerton. Meanwhile, the biggest debut is Walker, which was boosted by Walker, the recent Walker: Texas Ranger reboot.

Within the set, we can also get a better sense of current trends by highlighting the names that rose or dropped at least 5 rankings. They are:

Rising:

• Boys: Sebastian, Asher, Leo, Ezra, Luca, Maverick, Elias, Santiago, Cooper, Kai, Angel, Wesley, Ian, Leonardo, Walker, Weston, Bennett, Beau, Micah, Rowan, Adam, Theo
• Girls: Sofia, Scarlett, Chloe, Mila, Violet, Aurora, Eliana, Ivy, Naomi, Valentina, Madelyn, Sophie, Genesis, Sadie, Quinn, Cora, Athena, Emery, Iris, Eloise, Maria, Liliana, Ayla

Falling:

• Boys: Jackson, Mason, Jacob, Logan, Wyatt, Jayden, Carter, Lincoln, Nolan, Jaxon, Eli, Aaron, Easton, Robert, Jameson, Landon, Colton, Jeremiah, Greyson, Nicholas, Hunter, Carson, Austin, Connor
• Girls: Gianna, Abigail, Ella, Layla, Madison, Zoey, Leah, Addison, Everly, Claire, Aaliyah, Autumn, Brooklyn, Savannah, Aubrey, Bella, Skylar, Gabriella, Nevaeh, Serenity, Allison, Madeline, Rylee, Eva, Piper, Peyton

Upwards trends for boys here include International, Biblical, and Western. For girls, some popular trends include International, Vintage, Nature/Floral, and Feminine. Vowel-heavy names are increasingly trendy for all children.

“Names ending in ‘-n'” is a widely popular trend that’s mostly declining within the Top 100, which also affects Last-Names-as-First-Names like Jackson, Mason, and Landon. Madison and Addison have passed their heyday, and Zoey is now less popular than the classic spelling, Zoe. Though names like Abigail, Leah, and Claire are losing popularity, as a whole popular girls’ names are getting more traditional as “Grandma names” take off. As always, some names buck trends.

Do you have any thoughts about the new 2022 U.S. Top 100? Are there any names you’re intrigued by? Let me know!