Baby Name Wheel
Click the wheel or press Space
Click the wheel or press Space
What 25 years of US birth records say about baby girl names, baby boy names, the cute names everyone loves right now, and the ones cats keep stealing.
Every year the US Social Security Administration publishes every first name given to at least five babies. Add up 2001 to 2025 and two names come out on top: Emma, given to 449,576 girls, and Jacob, given to 448,084 boys. Neither is number one today.
The top spot changes hands slowly. For girls, Emily held it from 2001 to 2007, then Emma, Isabella, Sophia and Emma again, before Olivia took over in 2019 and kept it through 2025. For boys, Jacob was first twelve years running (2001–2012), Noah for four, and Liam every year since 2017.
Parents have never spread out so far. In 1950 Linda alone went to 4.7% of girls; today’s #1 name reaches fewer than 1 in 100. The count of different names peaked at 32,546 in 2008 and has held near 29,000 since, so a name in the top 10 now is far less common than a top 10 name was for your grandparents.
Names move fast. Some of the most popular baby names of 2025 were barely on the list ten years ago, while the hits of the 2000s are fading.
| Name | Rank then | Rank 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Ailany (girl) | 3,842 in 2015 | 14 |
| Lainey (girl) | 576 in 2015 | 30 |
| Nova (girl) | 213 in 2015 | 46 |
| Thiago (boy) | 334 in 2015 | 50 |
| Atlas (boy) | 487 in 2015 | 75 |
| Theo (boy) | 406 in 2015 | 82 |
| Alexis (girl) | 13 in 2005 | 554 |
| Jessica (girl) | 27 in 2005 | 665 |
| Tyler (boy) | 16 in 2005 | 220 |
| Brandon (boy) | 27 in 2005 | 261 |
The names that sound cute today are short and soft. In 2025, 38% of girls got a name ending in “a” and another 18% one ending in “e”, while 28% of boys got a name ending in “n”. Vintage nicknames like Ellie, Millie and Teddy are back too. With their 2025 rank:
Cute baby girl names
Cute baby boy names
A rank in the hundreds means fewer classmates with the same name: Wren went to 1,331 girls in 2025, Olivia to over 13,000.
These names went to over 1,500 babies in 2025 with neither boys nor girls taking more than 70%. The share in brackets is girls.
Cats and babies now share names. The human names that top cat lists, like Luna, Oliver, Milo, Leo and Bella, are mostly ones parents love too: Luna ranked 594th for girls in 2005 and 27th in 2025, and Oliver is the 3rd most popular boys’ name. Even Nala, the lioness from The Lion King, went to 317 baby girls in 2025.
Naming a kitten? Put a shortlist on a blank wheel and let it decide.
Source: US Social Security Administration, baby names from Social Security card applications, 1880–2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren’t listed.