How Common Is My Name?
See your name's all-time U.S. rank and how many people share it.
Common is a spectrum
Some names are everywhere and some are once-in-a-generation. This tool puts a number on it. We divide the 372,009,150 recorded U.S. births since 1880 by how many got your name, so you see exactly how common it is: 1 in 71 for the biggest names, 1 in several hundred for the everyday favorites, and much higher for the unusual ones.
The most common names
The all-time leaders are James, John, Robert, Michael, William, Mary, David, Joseph, Richard, Charles. Names like these have been handed to millions of people over more than a century, which is why you probably know several of each.
What "common" looks like on the card
Your card shows your tier and your rank. Land in Very Common and you are in rare company at the top: only a couple hundred names are that widespread. Most people sit comfortably in Common, sharing their name with somewhere between 1 in 200 and 1 in 2,000 Americans.
| Tier | How many share the name |
|---|---|
| Very Common | more than 1 in 200 people |
| Common | about 1 in 200 to 1 in 2,000 |
| Uncommon | about 1 in 2,000 to 1 in 20,000 |
| Rare | about 1 in 20,000 to 1 in 200,000 |
| Very Rare | about 1 in 200,000 to 1 in 2 million |
| Ultra Rare | rarer than 1 in 2 million |
Frequently asked questions
- What is the most common name in America?
- James is the most common first name of all time in the SSA records, given to millions of people since 1880. John, Robert, Michael follow close behind.
- How common does a name have to be to rank in the top 100?
- The top 100 all-time names are each shared by hundreds of thousands to millions of people. Cracking the top 100 out of more than 100,000 names means a name is extremely widespread.