How Name Popularity Data Works
Name popularity statistics are most useful when the year, geographic area, sex category, and measure are clearly identified. A rank tells you where a name stood within one dataset, while the birth count shows how many records produced that rank.
Core measures
- Birth count
- The number of babies recorded with a name in a stated year and dataset.
- Rank
- The name’s position after names are ordered by birth count within the same year and category.
- National data
- Records summarized for the United States as a whole.
- State data
- Records summarized separately for each state, year, and sex category.
Why ties matter
When two names have the same recorded birth count, AboutYourName.com gives them the same competition rank. The next rank reflects the number of names ahead of them. This preserves the relationship between rank and actual record counts.
Read a statistic in context
- Confirm the year.
- Confirm whether the result is national or state-specific.
- Check the sex category used by the source dataset.
- Compare birth counts as well as rankings.
- Do not treat historical birth totals as the exact number of living people.