Most Popular Baby Names of 2012

In 2012, Sophia was the most popular name for girls, given to 22,336 babies, and Jacob topped the boys' list with 19,110. Sophia held on to number one for a second year in a row, and Jacob held on to number one for a 14th year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,761,053 girls and 1,896,946 boys born in 2012 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 19,534 different girls' names and 14,250 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 2012

Top girls' names, 2012
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 2011
1	Sophia	22,336	same
2	Emma	20,976	up 1
3	Isabella	19,138	down 1
4	Olivia	17,333	same
5	Ava	15,549	same
6	Emily	13,666	same
7	Abigail	12,730	same
8	Mia	12,039	up 1
9	Madison	11,417	down 1
10	Elizabeth	9,730	up 1
11	Chloe	9,672	down 1
12	Ella	9,210	same
13	Avery	8,319	up 5
14	Addison	8,183	down 1
15	Aubrey	8,061	up 5
16	Lily	7,970	down 1
17	Natalie	7,908	down 3
18	Sofia	7,837	up 1
19	Charlotte	7,483	up 8
20	Zoey	7,482	up 8
21	Grace	7,393	down 5
22	Hannah	7,293	up 3
23	Amelia	7,249	up 7
24	Harper	7,199	up 30
25	Lillian	7,171	down 3
26	Samantha	6,938	down 9
27	Evelyn	6,880	down 3
28	Victoria	6,871	down 5
29	Brooklyn	6,796	down 8
30	Zoe	6,466	up 1
31	Layla	6,279	up 4
32	Hailey	5,917	same
33	Leah	5,781	down 4
34	Anna	5,630	up 4
35	Kaylee	5,629	up 1
36	Aaliyah	5,523	up 10
37	Gabriella	5,512	down 3
38	Allison	5,428	up 2
39	Nevaeh	5,412	down 6
40	Alexis	5,375	down 14
41	Audrey	5,300	up 2
42	Sarah	5,207	down 3
43	Savannah	5,203	down 2
44	Alyssa	5,091	down 7
45	Claire	4,944	up 5
46	Taylor	4,873	down 2
47	Riley	4,833	same
48	Camila	4,791	same
49	Arianna	4,735	up 3
50	Ashley	4,701	down 8
51	Brianna	4,646	down 6
52	Sophie	4,581	down 1
53	Peyton	4,478	same
54	Bella	4,362	up 6
55	Khloe	4,320	down 6
56	Genesis	4,309	up 25
57	Alexa	4,297	down 2
58	Serenity	4,248	up 8
59	Kylie	4,177	down 2
60	Aubree	4,052	up 39
61	Scarlett	4,045	up 19
62	Stella	4,006	up 12
63	Maya	3,981	up 1
64	Katherine	3,953	down 3
65	Julia	3,882	down 7
66	Lucy	3,818	up 7
67	Madelyn	3,795	up 12
68	Autumn	3,784	up 1
69	Kayla	3,776	down 10
70	Makayla	3,774	down 14
71	Mackenzie	3,764	down 3
72	Lauren	3,660	down 10
73	Gianna	3,627	down 10
74	Ariana	3,588	up 10
75	Faith	3,561	down 5
76	Alexandra	3,483	same
77	Melanie	3,467	up 12
78	Sydney	3,456	down 13
79	Naomi	3,432	up 14
80	Caroline	3,421	up 7
81	Bailey	3,418	up 7
82	Morgan	3,403	down 7
83	Jasmine	3,394	down 11
84	Kennedy	3,389	up 7
85	Ellie	3,388	up 12
86	Eva	3,369	down 3
87	Skylar	3,349	up 58
88	Kimberly	3,317	down 21
89	Violet	3,283	up 12
90	Molly	3,261	down 12
91	Trinity	3,251	down 14
92	Aria	3,233	up 65
93	Jocelyn	3,232	down 22
94	London	3,202	same
95	Lydia	3,176	up 1
96	Madeline	3,162	down 11
97	Reagan	3,088	up 25
98	Piper	3,073	up 12
99	Annabelle	3,058	up 12
100	Andrea	3,054	down 18

Top boys' names, 2012
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 2011
1	Jacob	19,110	same
2	Mason	18,994	same
3	Ethan	17,697	up 4
4	Noah	17,385	up 1
5	William	16,917	down 2
6	Liam	16,824	up 9
7	Michael	16,211	down 1
8	Jayden	16,152	down 4
9	Alexander	15,259	down 1
10	Aiden	14,924	down 1
11	Daniel	14,304	down 1
12	Matthew	13,993	same
13	Elijah	13,914	same
14	James	13,458	up 3
15	Anthony	13,228	down 4
16	Benjamin	12,835	up 3
17	Joshua	12,681	down 3
18	Andrew	12,643	down 2
19	Joseph	12,594	up 3
20	David	12,565	down 2
21	Jackson	12,498	up 2
22	Logan	12,488	down 1
23	Christopher	11,921	down 3
24	Gabriel	11,580	same
25	Samuel	11,470	up 1
26	Ryan	10,944	down 1
27	Lucas	10,718	up 2
28	John	10,638	down 1
29	Nathan	10,431	down 1
30	Isaac	10,065	up 5
31	Dylan	10,001	up 2
32	Caleb	9,977	same
33	Christian	9,640	down 3
34	Jonathan	9,372	down 3
35	Landon	9,356	down 1
36	Carter	9,274	up 5
37	Luke	9,022	up 2
38	Owen	8,695	up 6
39	Brayden	8,513	down 3
40	Gavin	8,260	down 3
41	Wyatt	8,233	up 7
42	Isaiah	8,190	up 1
43	Eli	8,079	up 15
44	Henry	8,075	up 13
45	Hunter	8,053	up 10
46	Jack	7,941	down 1
47	Evan	7,912	down 7
48	Jordan	7,828	down 2
49	Nicholas	7,742	down 7
50	Tyler	7,706	down 12
51	Aaron	7,545	same
52	Jeremiah	7,498	down 3
53	Julian	7,389	down 3
54	Cameron	7,376	down 1
55	Levi	7,244	up 11
56	Brandon	7,041	down 9
57	Angel	7,024	down 5
58	Austin	7,014	up 2
59	Connor	6,983	down 5
60	Robert	6,963	up 2
61	Adrian	6,952	down 5
62	Charles	6,947	down 1
63	Thomas	6,855	same
64	Sebastian	6,744	up 4
65	Colton	6,362	up 9
66	Jaxon	6,316	up 20
67	Zachary	6,263	down 3
68	Ayden	6,234	up 2
69	Kevin	6,232	down 2
70	Dominic	6,189	up 7
71	Blake	6,047	up 2
72	Jose	6,041	down 7
73	Oliver	5,924	up 5
74	Justin	5,906	down 15
75	Bentley	5,895	same
76	Jason	5,759	down 5
77	Chase	5,706	down 8
78	Ian	5,696	down 6
79	Josiah	5,538	up 1
80	Xavier	5,386	down 4
81	Parker	5,370	down 2
82	Adam	5,323	down 1
83	Cooper	5,194	down 1
84	Nathaniel	4,795	same
85	Jace	4,724	up 21
86	Grayson	4,717	up 12
87	Carson	4,597	down 2
88	Tristan	4,441	down 1
89	Nolan	4,427	up 3
90	Luis	4,373	down 2
91	Brody	4,366	down 8
92	Juan	4,284	down 3
93	Hudson	4,222	up 19
94	Bryson	4,042	up 3
95	Carlos	4,010	down 4
96	Easton	3,943	up 7
97	Kayden	3,884	up 8
98	Alex	3,870	down 3
99	Damian	3,860	up 39
100	Ryder	3,821	up 8

Biggest climbers in 2012

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 2011.

Girls

Malaysia: up 391 places, from 961st to 570th
Blakely: up 383 places, from 929th to 546th
Arya: up 301 places, from 715th to 414th
Hattie: up 288 places, from 994th to 706th
Kenya: up 269 places, from 803rd to 534th
Nova: up 268 places, from 886th to 618th
Willa: up 267 places, from 984th to 717th
Braylee: up 262 places, from 801st to 539th
Sherlyn: up 226 places, from 867th to 641st
River: up 209 places, from 892nd to 683rd

Boys

Major: up 504 places, from 990th to 486th
Vihaan: up 290 places, from 941st to 651st
Arian: up 272 places, from 924th to 652nd
Gael: up 264 places, from 410th to 146th
Jase: up 257 places, from 561st to 304th
Messiah: up 247 places, from 635th to 388th
Nixon: up 247 places, from 900th to 653rd
Princeton: up 246 places, from 978th to 732nd
Flynn: up 237 places, from 939th to 702nd
Crew: up 170 places, from 943rd to 773rd

New to the top 1,000 in 2012

Girls

Cataleya, 480th (its first time ever)
Litzy, 599th (back after dropping out)
Kenia, 643rd (back after dropping out)
Colette, 664th (back after dropping out)
Paislee, 724th (its first time ever)
Adley, 733rd (its first time ever)
Galilea, 752nd (back after dropping out)
Winter, 772nd (back after dropping out)
Coraline, 826th (its first time ever)
Charlize, 847th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Neymar, 704th (its first time ever)
Brentley, 751st (its first time ever)
Kyree, 805th (back after dropping out)
Thiago, 860th (its first time ever)
Jionni, 871st (its first time ever)
Kyrie, 873rd (its first time ever)
Yael, 883rd (back after dropping out)
Yousef, 892nd (back after dropping out)
Juelz, 894th (back after dropping out)
Austyn, 899th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 2012?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 8.8% of the girls counted in 2012, and the top ten boys' names to 8.9% of the boys. In 1992, those shares were 13.8% for girls and 17.3% for boys.

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.