FastNamesHow common is my name?
Type a first name to find out how many babies in the US have been given it, when it was at its peak, how it ranks now and which states like it most.
Here's an example to start with. Type any first name above to see your own.
Linda (girls)
Since 1880, the first year in Social Security's baby name data, 1,455,143 girls have been named Linda.
It was at its most popular in 1948, when 96,220 girls got it, about 1 in every 18.
In 2025, 294 girls were named Linda, making it the 902nd most popular girls' name (about 1 in 5,467).
It reached number one among girls' names in 1947.
More girls got the name in the 1950s than in any other decade: 564,364.
Compared with the national trend, it has been most popular in Nevada (1.3 times the national rate), Oklahoma (1.2) and Vermont (1.2).
It has also been given to 3,756 boys.
| Decade | Babies |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 493 |
| 1890s | 872 |
| 1900s | 996 |
| 1910s | 2,395 |
| 1920s | 4,455 |
| 1930s | 29,358 |
| 1940s | 531,660 |
| 1950s | 564,364 |
| 1960s | 225,454 |
| 1970s | 45,900 |
| 1980s | 22,819 |
| 1990s | 12,815 |
| 2000s | 7,220 |
| 2010s | 4,386 |
| 2020s | 1,956 |
Where the numbers come from
Everything here comes from the Social Security Administration's baby name files, which count the first names on Social Security card applications for babies born in the US from 1880 through 2025. A name shows up for a year only when at least five babies of the same sex got it, so very rare names have gaps, and the tool covers names given to at least 100 babies of one sex in total.
The chart shows babies per million born of the same sex, which lets a year like 1947 sit fairly next to 2025 even though far more babies are born now. The state comparison uses the state files, which start in 1910. It works out how many babies in each state would have had the name if the state followed the national trend year by year, then compares that with the real count. That way a state that grew fast while a name was in fashion doesn't look like it loved the name.
These are counts of babies born, not of people alive today. Spellings count separately, so Katherine, Catherine and Kathryn are three different names here. Want to see several at once? Try the name comparison chart.
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.