Most popular boy names in the U.S. [2022]

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Keith Lindner

Keith Lindner is a devoted dad, doting husband, tech nerd, a research expert and a certified Infant Feeding Technician. With 10+ years of consumer research and product management experience, he became passionate about finding and building products that improve his family's life and fit their lifestyle preferences. He loves sharing this info with other parents to help make life a bit easier during those first few years of life.

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Most recent data on the top 1,000 popular boy names

The most popular boy names in the U.S. right now — Liam, Noah, Oliver, James and Elijah — have been dominating the charts for quite some time. Liam has held the number one spot for baby boy names since 2017 and the rest should look pretty familiar — they’re all the same names from the year before. 

No new names broke into the top 10 but James jumped past Elijah this year and Henry also jumped two spots in the top 10, moving from the #9 to #7.

Here’s a quick peek at the 10 most popular boy names from 2022:

1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Oliver
4. James
5. Elijah
6. William
7. Henry
8. Lucas
9. Benjamin
10. Theodore

Some interesting naming trends we’ve noticed

Gender-agnostic names make gender-neutral names more modern

This isn’t a new trend. Unisex and gender-neutral names have been trending for a while now but it seems to be picking up even more steam. Our research is showing that parents don’t care if a name is traditionally a boy’s name, a unisex name or a girl’s name. If they like it, they’re going for it. Respect. 

Pop culture is still as influential as ever for names

Dutton leads a list of rising cowboy names, including Yellowstone Dutton family name Kayce, a name fit for a Texas Ranger (Walker), and hat classic Stetson. Beyond the cowboys, you’ll notice the French soccer star name Kylian (and 8 other names that start with K in the top 20 fastest rising boy names).

However you feel about those trends, if you’re looking for baby boy name inspiration, we recommend a scan through the most popular boy names below. You never know what might jump out at you. 

Remember, popular boy names are popular for a reason

With this being a post about the most popular boy names, we have to talk about what that actually means. Popularity is a really dominant part of baby naming today. And it feels quite personal. 

You might think you’re unique if you tend to prefer more uncommon names, but actually what we’re starting to see is an entire new generation of parents that want their child’s name to stand out from the crowd. The most common thing you can do is actually not like things that are common. You might need to read that last sentence twice. 

So just remember that popular really just means well-liked. It’s far less common today than it was 20 years ago that your child will grow up with 10 other kids with the same name simply because there are so many new names. 

Even the most popular names you’ll see below are far less of a % of the total names than they used to be. Hopefully that makes popularity a bit less scary for some parents reading this because we think it’s safe to say that no child’s life was ruined by having a well-liked name.

We’ll stop teasing you now and let you get on with the full list. Fingers crossed this list can help you start to figure things out when it comes to choosing a name for your baby. 

Top 1,000 most popular baby boy names

Where does popular boy name data come from?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) releases birth certificate data typically around Mother’s Day each year. They track the most popular baby names from the previous year and even provide some interesting stats to go with it. Listed above are the 1,000 most popular baby boy names from 2022, as determined by birth certificate data. 

All baby name data is reported from the “First Name” field on the Social Security card application. The given name must be at least two characters long in order to be included. Names with fewer than five occurrences in any geographic area are not included. 

Note: if you’re a data wizard and want to go super deep, you can search the entire SSA database for over 100 years’ worth of baby name data. 

A final word from The Baby Swag crew

Whatever your approach to choosing a name, this list of the 1,000 most popular boy names of 2022, should help you consider lots of options. 

There are lots of things to think (and worry about) when you’re trying to conceive or already pregnant. Names hopefully don’t have to be a worry. They can be your chance to just sit back and have a little fun.