Boy name statistics show two big patterns: (1) a small set of names dominates the very top of the rankings, and (2) parents still choose from a wide (and widening) pool of “long-tail” names beyond the top 1,000.
U.S. #1 boy name (2024): Liam (SSA top-10 ranking).
U.S. name diversity: the top 1,000 boy names cover 75.37% of male births (2024).
Fastest-rising U.S. boy name (2024): “Truce” jumped 11,118 ranking spots to enter the top 1,000 (rank #991).
Most common U.S. boy name (1925–2024): James with 4,545,686 occurrences.
England & Wales #1 boy name (2024): Muhammad with 5,721 registrations (specific spelling).
Top 10 U.S. boy names (2024)
This chart uses a simple popularity score so the most popular name has the longest bar: Popularity score = 11 − SSA rank (so rank #1 = 10 points; rank #10 = 1 point).
Label
Bar
Value
Liam
10
Noah
9
Oliver
8
Theodore
7
James
6
Henry
5
Mateo
4
Elijah
3
Lucas
2
William
1
Max = 10. Widths: Liam 100.00%, Noah 90.00%, Oliver 80.00%, Theodore 70.00%, James 60.00%, Henry 50.00%, Mateo 40.00%, Elijah 30.00%, Lucas 20.00%, William 10.00%.
How concentrated are boy names in the U.S.?
Even with a clear top 10, the U.S. is still highly diverse: in 2024, the top 1,000 boy names accounted for 75.37% of male births (vs 66.83% for girls; 71.19% overall). That means roughly 1 in 4 boys received a name outside the top 1,000.
Most common U.S. boy names (last 100 years: 1925–2024)
The SSA “century list” sums up 100 years of naming, covering 179,421,535 male births in its underlying universe for 1925–2024.
Label
Bar
Value
James
4,545,686
Michael
4,354,983
John
4,254,027
Robert
4,248,470
David
3,562,294
William
3,400,779
Richard
2,387,091
Joseph
2,263,825
Thomas
2,115,411
Christopher
2,059,450
Max = 4,545,686. Widths: James 100.00%, Michael 95.80%, John 93.58%, Robert 93.46%, David 78.37%, William 74.81%, Richard 52.51%, Joseph 49.80%, Thomas 46.54%, Christopher 45.31%.
Top 10 boy names in England & Wales (2024)
England & Wales show a different #1: Muhammad led the 2024 rankings with 5,721 registrations for that exact spelling.
Label
Bar
Value
Muhammad
5,721
Noah
4,139
Oliver
3,492
Arthur
3,368
Leo
3,324
George
3,257
Luca
2,814
Theodore
2,761
Oscar
2,747
Archie
2,575
Max = 5,721. Widths: Muhammad 100.00%, Noah 72.35%, Oliver 61.04%, Arthur 58.87%, Leo 58.10%, George 56.93%, Luca 49.19%, Theodore 48.26%, Oscar 48.02%, Archie 45.01%.
Sources
Social Security Administration (SSA): Popular Baby Names (Top 10, 2024).
SSA: “Beyond the Top 1000 Names” (share of births represented by top 1,000 names, 2024).
SSA Press Release (May 9, 2025): “Olivia and Liam Remain Most Popular Baby Names for 2024” (fastest-rising names; “Truce” rank jump).
SSA: “Top Names Over the Last 100 Years” (1925–2024 totals; top names by occurrences).
England & Wales (ONS-related reporting): 2024 baby name counts (top 10 list and totals as published in mainstream reporting).
