What is the most popular male name over last 50 years in the U.S.?
How many people share that name?

What is the most popular female name over last 50 years in the U.S.?
How many people share that name?

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Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 10 Feb 2005 12:03 PST

Dear Buckinghammike,

Please review the results of my research that I am posting in the
comment box below. If this information meets your needs, just let me
know and I will repost my findings as the official answer to your
question.

Sincerely,
Bobbie7

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Clarification of Question by buckinghammike-ga on 10 Feb 2005 13:25 PST

Bobbie,

Based on your research, are there assumptions we can make about the
number of people in the U.S. bearing that name? In other words, if we
know Mary is the most popular name with a frequency of 2.629%--I
imagine what that means is that 2.629% of all females born share the
name--and the population of the U.S. is roughly 350 million,  that
there might be 6.6 million Americans named Mary?

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Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 10 Feb 2005 13:40 PST

Dear Buckinghammike,

I located a very good name statistic website for you:
http://www.namestatistics.com
In the right hand corner you can enter the name of your interest to
obtain the statistics you need.

For example:

Mary

MARY is the #1 most common female name.
2.629% of females in the US are named MARY.
Around 3351975 US females are named MARY

MARY is the #699 most common male name.
0.009% of men in the US are named MARY.
Around 11025 US men are named MARY!   
 
MARY is the #12571 most common last name.
0.001% of last names in the US are MARY.
Around 2500 US last names are MARY

http://www.namestatistics.com/search.php?name=MARY

Michael

Michael is the #4 most common male name.
2.629% of men in the US are named Michael.
Around 3220525 US men are named Michael! 

Michael is the #799 most common female name.
0.012% of females in the US are named Michael.
Around 15300 US females are named Michael! 

Michael is the #877 most common last name.
0.014% of last names in the US are Michael.
Around 35000 US last names are Michael!
http://www.namestatistics.com/search.php?name=Michael

Does this resource plus the other resources that I provided previously
answer your question?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

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Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 10 Feb 2005 13:53 PST

Dear Buckinghammike,

In 2002, the civilian noninstitutionalized population of the United States
totaled 282.1 million ? 144 million were female and 138 million were male.
http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-544.pdf

In regards to your clarification:

>Based on your research, are there assumptions we can make about the
number of people in the U.S. bearing that name? In other words, if we
know Mary is the most popular name with a frequency of 2.629%--I
imagine what that means is that 2.629% of all females born share the
name--and the population of the U.S. is roughly 350 million,  that
there might be 6.6 million Americans named Mary?<

If there are an estimated 144 million females in the U.S. and there is
a frequency of 2.69% with the name Mary, there would be 3,873,600
Americans named Mary.

This figure is similar to the data that I provided previously  from
name statistic website for the name Mary.

Mary
http://www.namestatistics.com/search.php?name=MARY


Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Bobbie7

Dear Buckinghammike,

After reviewing all the information that I assembled previously, I
believe an appropriate answer to your question can now be provided.


The consistently popular female name over the years is Elizabeth, and
1,194,675 US females share that name.

The consistently popular male name over the years is Michael and
3,220,525 US men share that name.


Sources of information:

Behind the Name

Computer-created analysis of the United States top 1000 names for the
period 1900 to 2003 (every decade from 1900 to 1980; every year from
1990 onwards).

Top 5 Consistently Popular Boys Names

1. Michael
2. Joseph
3. John
4. James
5. William

Top 5 Consistently Popular Girls Names

1. Elizabeth
2. Sarah
3. Mary
4. Maria
5. Anna

Behind the Name
http://www.behindthename.com/top/us.html


Michael

Michael is the #4 most common male name and around 3,220,525 US men
are named Michael.
http://www.namestatistics.com/search.php?name=Michael

Popularities for Michael as a Male Name by Year
http://www.behindthename.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?extra=p&gender=m&popterm=us&terms=Michael


Elizabeth

Elizabeth is the #5 most common female name and around 1,194,675 US
females are named Elizabeth.
http://www.namestatistics.com/search.php?name=Elizabeth

Popularities for Elizabeth as a Female Name by Year
http://www.behindthename.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?extra=p&gender=f&popterm=us&terms=Elizabeth


Mary

Mary is the #1 most common female name and around 3,351,975 US females
are named Mary.
http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.female.first

Popularities for Mary as a Female Name by year
http://www.behindthename.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?extra=p&gender=f&popterm=us&terms=Mary


James

James is the #1 most common male name and around 4,064,550 US men are named James!
http://www.namestatistics.com/search.php?name=james 

Popularities for James as a Male Name by year
http://www.behindthename.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?extra=p&gender=m&popterm=us&terms=James


Search criteria:
Name statistics
First name statistics
Most popular names in the United States
Most frequent names


I hope you find this information useful.

Best regards,
Bobbie7

Hello again Buckinghammike,

Please let me know if the following information would be an adequate
answer to your question and I will post it in the answer box.

Thanks,
Bobbie7


Computer-created analysis of the United States top 1000 names for the
period 1900 to 2003 (every decade from 1900 to 1980; every year from
1990 onwards).

Top 5 Consistently Popular 

Boys 
1. Michael
2. Joseph
3. John
4. James
5. William

Girls
1. Elizabeth
2. Sarah
3. Mary
4. Maria
5. Anna
http://www.behindthename.com/top/us.html
 
Personal names 

The US Census Bureau makes available lists of the most popular female
first, male first, and last names from the 1990 census, in order of
frequency, with the most frequent first.

Each list contains four items of data.  

         (1).  A "Name"
         (2).  Frequency in percent
         (3).  Cumulative Frequency in percent 
         (4).  Rank

http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/

Here is the list of Female First Names
http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.female.first

Here is the list of Male First Names
http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/dist.male.first

Or search names files here:
http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/namesearch.html
 


Below you will find lists of the Most Popular Names by Decade

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1900-1909
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1900s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1910-1919 
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1910s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1920-1929
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1920s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1930-1939
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1930s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1940-1949
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1940s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1950-1959  
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1950s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1960-1969
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1960s.html
Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1970-1979 
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1970s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1980-1989
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1980s.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1990
http://www.behindthename.com/top/100us1990.html

Most Popular Names for Births in the United States 1991-2003
http://www.behindthename.com/top.html