Ending up on the Social Security Administration's baby names page was not on my 2026 bingo card. But I’m not ashamed to admit that I lost a solid hour of my afternoon to it. The SSA's free name search tool lets you look up any name and see exactly how popular it was by year and by state, all the way back to 1880. It sounds dry, but the time I spent looking up everyone I know says otherwise.
According to SSA data, my name (Brianna) ranked #222 nationally among girls in 2025—respectable but not exactly trendy. But look back to 1999, when Brianna was at its absolute peak: #14 in the country, with over 12,000 Briannas born that year. Interestingly, the alternate spelling—Briana with one N—peaked five years earlier, in 1994, and only reached #67. Proof that the extra N carried serious weight. I've always felt very Millennial, and this is all the validation I needed. You can also filter by state and birth year, which is where things get really personal, and as someone who loves to keep fun facts in her back pocket, a little too fun.
The real entertainment, though, is looking up your family. My mom's name peaked the year she was born, when it cracked the top five nationally—she was extremely of her moment and has no idea. But by 2025, it had slid all the way to #821 and is no longer even tracked in the most recent data. (Love you, Mom. You're a classic.) My dad's name is a different story: it has hovered near the top 30 basically since the SSA started keeping records in 1880, hit #6 in the early 2000s, and still ranked a solid #29 in 2025. Some names are just built differently.
Then there are my siblings, both born at or near their respective names' peaks, which means my parents were either deeply attuned to the zeitgeist or had better taste than they're given credit for. My sister's name peaked at #23 the year before she arrived; my brother's was solidly in the top 20 at his birth and still climbing toward an eventual #7. Both have since slid considerably, which feels less like a commentary on my parents' taste and more like confirmation that the naming cycle is ruthless. Nobody gets out unscathed.
The tool is genuinely addictive in the best way. Part nostalgia trip, part cultural artifact, part evidence that your parents were either ahead of their time or very much of it. You can filter by state, compare years side by side, and trace the rise and fall of names that once felt like they'd last forever.
It’s a fun tool to use when deciding on baby names for your own children or helping friends name theirs, whether you want something that feels of the moment or is sure to be a classic down the road.
Where does your name land on the list?
Brianna Lapolla is freelance writer. She started her career in e-commerce before moving into editorial for Editorialist and PureWow, and now covers everything from product reviews to roundups to lifestyle content. When she’s not writing, she’s on the hunt for New York’s best dirty martini, doing Pilates, or getting bossed around by her French Bulldog, King Louis.
