Most Popular Baby Names of 2012

In 2012, the most popular baby names in the United States were Sophia for girls and Jacob for boys. Sophia was given to 22,336 girls and Jacob to 19,110 boys, according to Social Security card applications.

Across all names, the Social Security Administration recorded 3,657,999 births for names given to at least five babies that year, down from 3,658,318 in 2011. The tables below show the top 100 names for each sex with their rank change from the year before, followed by the biggest movers in the top 1,000.

New to the top 100 this year: Skylar, Violet, Aria, Reagan, Piper, and Annabelle.

← 2011 2013 →The 2010s Download top 1,000 (CSV)

Top 100 baby names of 2012

Girls

Girls
#	Name	Babies	Change
1	Sophia	22,336	–
2	Emma	20,976	↑ 1
3	Isabella	19,138	↓ 1
4	Olivia	17,333	–
5	Ava	15,549	–
6	Emily	13,666	–
7	Abigail	12,730	–
8	Mia	12,039	↑ 1
9	Madison	11,417	↓ 1
10	Elizabeth	9,730	↑ 1
11	Chloe	9,672	↓ 1
12	Ella	9,210	–
13	Avery	8,319	↑ 5
14	Addison	8,183	↓ 1
15	Aubrey	8,061	↑ 5
16	Lily	7,970	↓ 1
17	Natalie	7,908	↓ 3
18	Sofia	7,837	↑ 1
19	Charlotte	7,483	↑ 8
20	Zoey	7,482	↑ 8
21	Grace	7,393	↓ 5
22	Hannah	7,293	↑ 3
23	Amelia	7,249	↑ 7
24	Harper	7,199	↑ 30
25	Lillian	7,171	↓ 3
26	Samantha	6,938	↓ 9
27	Evelyn	6,880	↓ 3
28	Victoria	6,871	↓ 5
29	Brooklyn	6,796	↓ 8
30	Zoe	6,466	↑ 1
31	Layla	6,279	↑ 4
32	Hailey	5,917	–
33	Leah	5,781	↓ 4
34	Anna	5,630	↑ 4
35	Kaylee	5,629	↑ 1
36	Aaliyah	5,523	↑ 10
37	Gabriella	5,512	↓ 3
38	Allison	5,428	↑ 2
39	Nevaeh	5,412	↓ 6
40	Alexis	5,375	↓ 14
41	Audrey	5,300	↑ 2
42	Sarah	5,207	↓ 3
43	Savannah	5,203	↓ 2
44	Alyssa	5,091	↓ 7
45	Claire	4,944	↑ 5
46	Taylor	4,873	↓ 2
47	Riley	4,833	–
48	Camila	4,791	–
49	Arianna	4,735	↑ 3
50	Ashley	4,701	↓ 8
51	Brianna	4,646	↓ 6
52	Sophie	4,581	↓ 1
53	Peyton	4,478	–
54	Bella	4,362	↑ 6
55	Khloe	4,320	↓ 6
56	Genesis	4,309	↑ 25
57	Alexa	4,297	↓ 2
58	Serenity	4,248	↑ 8
59	Kylie	4,177	↓ 2
60	Aubree	4,052	↑ 39
61	Scarlett	4,045	↑ 19
62	Stella	4,006	↑ 12
63	Maya	3,981	↑ 1
64	Katherine	3,953	↓ 3
65	Julia	3,882	↓ 7
66	Lucy	3,818	↑ 7
67	Madelyn	3,795	↑ 12
68	Autumn	3,784	↑ 1
69	Kayla	3,776	↓ 10
70	Makayla	3,774	↓ 14
71	Mackenzie	3,764	↓ 3
72	Lauren	3,660	↓ 10
73	Gianna	3,627	↓ 10
74	Ariana	3,588	↑ 10
75	Faith	3,561	↓ 5
76	Alexandra	3,483	–
77	Melanie	3,467	↑ 12
78	Sydney	3,456	↓ 13
79	Naomi	3,432	↑ 14
80	Caroline	3,421	↑ 7
81	Bailey	3,418	↑ 7
82	Morgan	3,403	↓ 7
83	Jasmine	3,394	↓ 11
84	Kennedy	3,389	↑ 7
85	Ellie	3,388	↑ 12
86	Eva	3,369	↓ 3
87	Skylar	3,349	↑ 58
88	Kimberly	3,317	↓ 21
89	Violet	3,283	↑ 12
90	Molly	3,261	↓ 12
91	Trinity	3,251	↓ 14
92	Aria	3,233	↑ 65
93	Jocelyn	3,232	↓ 22
94	London	3,202	–
95	Lydia	3,176	↑ 1
96	Madeline	3,162	↓ 11
97	Reagan	3,088	↑ 25
98	Piper	3,073	↑ 12
99	Annabelle	3,058	↑ 12
100	Andrea	3,054	↓ 18

Boys

Boys
#	Name	Babies	Change
1	Jacob	19,110	–
2	Mason	18,994	–
3	Ethan	17,697	↑ 4
4	Noah	17,385	↑ 1
5	William	16,917	↓ 2
6	Liam	16,824	↑ 9
7	Michael	16,211	↓ 1
8	Jayden	16,152	↓ 4
9	Alexander	15,259	↓ 1
10	Aiden	14,924	↓ 1
11	Daniel	14,304	↓ 1
12	Matthew	13,993	–
13	Elijah	13,914	–
14	James	13,458	↑ 3
15	Anthony	13,228	↓ 4
16	Benjamin	12,835	↑ 3
17	Joshua	12,681	↓ 3
18	Andrew	12,643	↓ 2
19	Joseph	12,594	↑ 3
20	David	12,565	↓ 2
21	Jackson	12,498	↑ 2
22	Logan	12,488	↓ 1
23	Christopher	11,921	↓ 3
24	Gabriel	11,580	–
25	Samuel	11,470	↑ 1
26	Ryan	10,944	↓ 1
27	Lucas	10,718	↑ 2
28	John	10,638	↓ 1
29	Nathan	10,431	↓ 1
30	Isaac	10,065	↑ 5
31	Dylan	10,001	↑ 2
32	Caleb	9,977	–
33	Christian	9,640	↓ 3
34	Jonathan	9,372	↓ 3
35	Landon	9,356	↓ 1
36	Carter	9,274	↑ 5
37	Luke	9,022	↑ 2
38	Owen	8,695	↑ 6
39	Brayden	8,513	↓ 3
40	Gavin	8,260	↓ 3
41	Wyatt	8,233	↑ 7
42	Isaiah	8,190	↑ 1
43	Eli	8,079	↑ 15
44	Henry	8,075	↑ 13
45	Hunter	8,053	↑ 10
46	Jack	7,941	↓ 1
47	Evan	7,912	↓ 7
48	Jordan	7,828	↓ 2
49	Nicholas	7,742	↓ 7
50	Tyler	7,706	↓ 12
51	Aaron	7,545	–
52	Jeremiah	7,498	↓ 3
53	Julian	7,389	↓ 3
54	Cameron	7,376	↓ 1
55	Levi	7,244	↑ 11
56	Brandon	7,041	↓ 9
57	Angel	7,024	↓ 5
58	Austin	7,014	↑ 2
59	Connor	6,983	↓ 5
60	Robert	6,963	↑ 2
61	Adrian	6,952	↓ 5
62	Charles	6,947	↓ 1
63	Thomas	6,855	–
64	Sebastian	6,744	↑ 4
65	Colton	6,362	↑ 9
66	Jaxon	6,316	↑ 20
67	Zachary	6,263	↓ 3
68	Ayden	6,234	↑ 2
69	Kevin	6,232	↓ 2
70	Dominic	6,189	↑ 7
71	Blake	6,047	↑ 2
72	Jose	6,041	↓ 7
73	Oliver	5,924	↑ 5
74	Justin	5,906	↓ 15
75	Bentley	5,895	–
76	Jason	5,759	↓ 5
77	Chase	5,706	↓ 8
78	Ian	5,696	↓ 6
79	Josiah	5,538	↑ 1
80	Xavier	5,386	↓ 4
81	Parker	5,370	↓ 2
82	Adam	5,323	↓ 1
83	Cooper	5,194	↓ 1
84	Nathaniel	4,795	–
85	Jace	4,724	↑ 21
86	Grayson	4,717	↑ 12
87	Carson	4,597	↓ 2
88	Tristan	4,441	↓ 1
89	Nolan	4,427	↑ 3
90	Luis	4,373	↓ 2
91	Brody	4,366	↓ 8
92	Juan	4,284	↓ 3
93	Hudson	4,222	↑ 19
94	Bryson	4,042	↑ 3
95	Carlos	4,010	↓ 4
96	Easton	3,943	↑ 7
97	Kayden	3,884	↑ 8
98	Alex	3,870	↓ 3
99	Damian	3,860	↑ 39
100	Ryder	3,821	↑ 8

Biggest movers of 2012

Changes in rank within the top 1,000 compared with the year before.

Rising Girls

Malaysia ↑ 391 #570
Blakely ↑ 383 #546
Arya ↑ 301 #414
Hattie ↑ 288 #706
Kenya ↑ 269 #534
Nova ↑ 268 #618
Willa ↑ 267 #717
Braylee ↑ 262 #539
Sherlyn ↑ 226 #641
River ↑ 209 #683

Falling Girls

Aimee ↓ 167 #849
Zion ↓ 165 #778
Dulce ↓ 159 #575
Kaylyn ↓ 158 #927
Gisselle ↓ 156 #980
Ali ↓ 155 #865
Casey ↓ 154 #774
Sidney ↓ 151 #832
Haleigh ↓ 150 #929
Barbara ↓ 148 #894

New in the top 1,000 (Girls)

Cataleya, Litzy, Kenia, Colette, Paislee, Adley, Galilea, Winter, Coraline, Charlize, Estella, Elissa, Emmaline, Azalea, Everly

Dropped out of the top 1,000 (Girls)

Tegan, Jazmyn, Hayleigh, Kinsey, Princess, Tianna, Yoselin, Adyson, Jaiden, Jacey, Esperanza, Kiersten, Jadyn, Neveah, Sanaa

Rising Boys

Major ↑ 504 #486
Vihaan ↑ 290 #651
Arian ↑ 272 #652
Gael ↑ 264 #146
Jase ↑ 257 #304
Messiah ↑ 247 #388
Nixon ↑ 247 #653
Princeton ↑ 246 #732
Flynn ↑ 237 #702
Crew ↑ 170 #773

Falling Boys

Jorden ↓ 230 #906
Zachery ↓ 186 #1000
Yandel ↓ 184 #978
Trevon ↓ 173 #928
Jordyn ↓ 165 #827
Damion ↓ 161 #942
Cristopher ↓ 160 #784
Bradyn ↓ 160 #975
Branden ↓ 159 #850
Aidyn ↓ 155 #797

New in the top 1,000 (Boys)

Neymar, Brentley, Kyree, Thiago, Jionni, Kyrie, Yael, Yousef, Juelz, Austyn, Leroy, Lucca, Axton, Truman, Zaid

Dropped out of the top 1,000 (Boys)

Jair, Irvin, Kyron, Jerimiah, Deven, Yadiel, Brysen, Elvis, Zackery, Braylin, Leighton, Miller, Quinten, Jakobe, Enoch

Other years

Trend lists

Source: US Social Security Administration. Ranks are computed from birth counts for each sex; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are not published.