Most Popular Baby Names of 2016

In 2016, Emma was the most popular name for girls, given to 19,550 babies, and Noah topped the boys' list with 19,188. Emma held on to number one for a third year in a row, and Noah held on to number one for a fourth year in a row.

Social Security counted 1,772,022 girls and 1,897,738 boys born in 2016 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 18,885 different girls' names and 14,207 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 2016

Top girls' names, 2016
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 2015
1	Emma	19,550	same
2	Olivia	19,414	same
3	Ava	16,354	up 1
4	Sophia	16,185	down 1
5	Isabella	14,863	same
6	Mia	14,464	same
7	Charlotte	13,118	up 2
8	Abigail	11,796	down 1
9	Emily	11,006	down 1
10	Amelia	10,809	up 2
11	Harper	10,803	down 1
12	Evelyn	10,116	up 3
13	Elizabeth	9,607	same
14	Sofia	9,179	same
15	Madison	9,057	down 4
16	Avery	8,774	same
17	Ella	7,940	up 1
18	Scarlett	7,720	up 4
19	Grace	7,617	same
20	Chloe	7,484	down 3
21	Victoria	7,329	down 1
22	Riley	7,159	up 13
23	Aria	6,949	up 6
24	Lily	6,610	up 1
25	Aubrey	6,552	down 4
26	Zoey	6,481	down 3
27	Penelope	6,400	up 7
28	Lillian	6,386	down 2
29	Addison	6,341	down 5
30	Layla	6,300	same
31	Natalie	6,191	down 4
32	Camila	6,054	up 11
33	Hannah	6,038	down 5
34	Brooklyn	5,971	down 3
35	Zoe	5,764	down 2
36	Nora	5,593	up 5
37	Leah	5,434	down 1
38	Savannah	5,389	same
39	Audrey	5,369	down 2
40	Claire	5,216	up 9
41	Eleanor	5,140	up 19
42	Skylar	5,137	same
43	Ellie	5,074	up 5
44	Samantha	4,956	down 4
45	Stella	4,933	up 6
46	Paisley	4,883	down 1
47	Violet	4,882	up 3
48	Mila	4,830	up 5
49	Anna	4,810	down 5
50	Allison	4,786	down 11
51	Alexa	4,775	down 19
52	Hazel	4,682	up 11
53	Aaliyah	4,660	down 6
54	Ariana	4,609	down 8
55	Lucy	4,604	same
56	Caroline	4,437	up 6
57	Sarah	4,429	same
58	Genesis	4,351	up 7
59	Kennedy	4,341	down 1
60	Sadie	4,299	down 8
61	Gabriella	4,263	down 7
62	Madelyn	4,241	down 3
63	Adeline	4,120	up 72
64	Maya	4,090	up 4
65	Autumn	4,045	up 4
66	Aurora	4,006	up 12
67	Piper	3,956	same
68	Hailey	3,947	down 4
69	Arianna	3,913	down 13
70	Serenity	3,871	up 1
71	Ruby	3,847	up 12
72	Kaylee	3,845	down 11
73	Nevaeh	3,825	down 3
74	Eva	3,814	up 2
75	Naomi	3,808	same
76	Alice	3,692	up 11
77	Luna	3,688	up 35
78	Bella	3,685	down 4
79	Quinn	3,649	up 18
80	Lydia	3,625	same
81	Peyton	3,511	down 9
82	Melanie	3,490	down 1
83	Kylie	3,427	down 17
84	Aubree	3,422	down 5
85	Mackenzie	3,410	down 12
86	Kinsley	3,378	up 27
87	Cora	3,374	up 1
88	Julia	3,344	up 1
89	Taylor	3,281	down 12
90	Madeline	3,280	up 1
91	Katherine	3,276	down 7
92	Gianna	3,226	up 4
93	Eliana	3,207	up 9
94	Elena	3,190	up 12
95	Vivian	3,142	same
96	Willow	3,125	up 15
97	Brianna	3,098	down 15
98	Reagan	3,097	up 1
99	Faith	3,093	down 9
100	Clara	3,075	down 2

Top boys' names, 2016
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 2015
1	Noah	19,188	same
2	Liam	18,277	same
3	William	15,810	up 2
4	Mason	15,287	down 1
5	James	14,920	up 2
6	Benjamin	14,686	up 4
7	Jacob	14,559	down 3
8	Michael	14,145	up 1
9	Elijah	13,982	up 2
10	Ethan	13,855	down 4
11	Alexander	13,446	down 3
12	Oliver	13,066	up 7
13	Daniel	12,996	down 1
14	Lucas	12,906	up 2
15	Matthew	12,665	same
16	Aiden	12,269	down 3
17	Jackson	11,315	same
18	Logan	11,278	down 4
19	David	11,153	down 1
20	Joseph	10,969	up 1
21	Samuel	10,621	up 2
22	Henry	10,390	up 7
23	Sebastian	10,309	up 12
24	Owen	10,305	up 12
25	Gabriel	10,279	down 3
26	Carter	10,220	down 2
27	Jayden	10,158	down 7
28	John	10,060	down 2
29	Luke	10,001	down 1
30	Anthony	9,900	down 5
31	Isaac	9,782	same
32	Dylan	9,720	down 5
33	Wyatt	9,581	up 1
34	Andrew	9,437	down 4
35	Joshua	9,258	down 2
36	Christopher	9,106	down 4
37	Grayson	8,693	up 10
38	Jack	8,430	up 2
39	Julian	8,388	up 6
40	Ryan	8,261	down 1
41	Jaxon	8,145	up 3
42	Levi	8,118	same
43	Nathan	8,000	down 5
44	Caleb	7,982	down 7
45	Hunter	7,681	down 4
46	Christian	7,674	down 3
47	Isaiah	7,573	up 2
48	Thomas	7,367	up 3
49	Aaron	7,178	up 3
50	Eli	7,132	up 3
51	Lincoln	7,129	up 15
52	Charles	7,127	down 2
53	Landon	7,046	down 7
54	Connor	7,037	up 1
55	Josiah	7,025	up 2
56	Jonathan	6,982	down 8
57	Cameron	6,861	down 1
58	Jeremiah	6,629	down 4
59	Mateo	6,559	up 26
60	Adrian	6,337	down 2
61	Hudson	6,127	up 4
62	Robert	6,010	up 1
63	Nicholas	5,765	down 1
64	Brayden	5,734	down 3
65	Jordan	5,680	down 6
66	Easton	5,643	up 12
67	Nolan	5,634	up 4
68	Colton	5,624	down 8
69	Evan	5,613	down 2
70	Angel	5,564	down 6
71	Asher	5,525	up 11
72	Dominic	5,428	down 4
73	Austin	5,374	down 4
74	Leo	5,299	up 17
75	Adam	5,224	down 2
76	Jace	5,208	down 1
77	Jose	5,119	up 3
78	Ian	5,079	down 2
79	Cooper	4,974	down 2
80	Gavin	4,944	down 10
81	Carson	4,931	up 8
82	Jaxson	4,916	up 2
83	Theodore	4,910	up 16
84	Jason	4,886	up 2
85	Ezra	4,882	up 8
86	Chase	4,868	down 12
87	Parker	4,730	down 15
88	Xavier	4,625	up 2
89	Zachary	4,576	down 1
90	Kevin	4,557	down 11
91	Tyler	4,515	down 10
92	Ayden	4,506	down 5
93	Elias	4,486	up 7
94	Bryson	4,372	up 39
95	Greyson	4,326	up 16
96	Leonardo	4,325	up 7
97	Sawyer	4,248	down 3
98	Roman	4,222	up 4
99	Brandon	4,101	down 16
100	Bentley	4,073	down 8

Biggest climbers in 2016

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 2015.

Girls

Ophelia: up 398 places, from 980th to 582nd
Aitana: up 364 places, from 915th to 551st
Avianna: up 302 places, from 752nd to 450th
Aviana: up 268 places, from 661st to 393rd
Princess: up 230 places, from 988th to 758th
Adley: up 213 places, from 832nd to 619th
Celine: up 212 places, from 823rd to 611th
Remi: up 206 places, from 502nd to 296th
Ariah: up 204 places, from 515th to 311th
Harlee: up 203 places, from 842nd to 639th

Boys

Adonis: up 303 places, from 698th to 395th
Kye: up 288 places, from 981st to 693rd
Wilder: up 239 places, from 965th to 726th
Zayn: up 223 places, from 643rd to 420th
Franco: up 174 places, from 876th to 702nd
Kingsley: up 167 places, from 751st to 584th
Apollo: up 163 places, from 749th to 586th
Grey: up 159 places, from 917th to 758th
Arlo: up 152 places, from 501st to 349th
Conor: up 151 places, from 474th to 323rd

New to the top 1,000 in 2016

Girls

Royalty, 535th (its first time ever)
Poppy, 747th (its first time ever)
Kaylani, 760th (its first time ever)
Antonella, 768th (its first time ever)
Itzayana, 773rd (its first time ever)
Joelle, 784th (back after dropping out)
Mavis, 790th (back after dropping out)
Mercy, 792nd (back after dropping out)
Alessia, 831st (its first time ever)
Reign, 833rd (its first time ever)

Boys

Fox, 744th (its first time ever)
Shepherd, 848th (back after dropping out)
Bridger, 856th (back after dropping out)
Brysen, 879th (back after dropping out)
Zyaire, 884th (its first time ever)
Alistair, 885th (its first time ever)
Howard, 901st (back after dropping out)
Westley, 903rd (back after dropping out)
Eason, 906th (its first time ever)
Khalid, 907th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 2016?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 8.3% of the girls counted in 2016, and the top ten boys' names to 8.2% of the boys. In 1996, those shares were 11.5% for girls and 15.5% 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.