Meet a Robert, and you can probably guess he isn’t a toddler. Now a Liam? He’s probably three or under. Baby names are tiny time capsules, and boys’ names in particular tend to stick around, with a single favorite holding the top spot for a decade or more before a new one finally takes over.
Using data from the Social Security Administration (SSA), we tracked the number-one boy name for every birth year from 1920 to the present day, and what drove each reign. Scroll to your decade to see which name topped the list the year you were born.
1920s
Welcome to the age of the classics. John opened the decade as America’s top baby boy name and held on through 1923, until Robert swooped in during 1924 and refused to give the crown back. These names were Biblical, traditional, and often handed down from a father or grandfather, so the top five (John, William, James, Robert, and Charles) barely budged from year to year. Back then, naming a baby wasn’t about standing out. It was about carrying on the family name.
•1920: John
•1921: John
•1922: John
•1923: John
•1924: Robert
•1925: Robert
•1926: Robert
•1927: Robert
•1928: Robert
•1929: Robert
1930s
Talk about a loyal fan base. Robert took the top spot every year in the 1930s, extending a winning streak that began in 1924 and lasted through 1939. That’s 16 years in a row. The rest of the list was just as locked in. From 1930 to 1939, the same five names (Robert, James, John, William, and Richard) made up the top five every single year. With the Great Depression raising the stakes on just about everything, parents stuck with the tried and true.
•1930: Robert
•1931: Robert
•1932: Robert
•1933: Robert
•1934: Robert
•1935: Robert
•1936: Robert
•1937: Robert
•1938: Robert
•1939: Robert
1940s
James snatched the crown from Robert in 1940 and ruled the list for 13 straight years through 1952. Even World War II couldn’t shake things up: James, Robert, John, William, and Richard held down the top five in roughly the same order for most of the decade. Only one newcomer snuck in. Michael cracked the top five in 1949 for the first time in this data, quietly setting the stage for something big.
•1940: James
•1941: James
•1942: James
•1943: James
•1944: James
•1945: James
•1946: James
•1947: James
•1948: James
•1949: James
1950s
The 1950s were a game of musical chairs, at least by boy-name standards. James got one last hurrah through 1952, Robert pulled off a one-year comeback in 1953, and then Michael arrived in 1954 and started a dynasty. Michael has been the number one boy name 44 times over the past century—more than any other, per the SSA. David also muscled into the top three as the baby boom hit full swing, while James, Robert, and John slowly slid down the ranks.
•1950: James
•1951: James
•1952: James
•1953: Robert
•1954: Michael
•1955: Michael
•1956: Michael
•1957: Michael
•1958: Michael
•1959: Michael
1960s
David had his moment in 1960, edging out Michael for exactly one year at the top. Then Michael snapped the crown back in 1961 and wasn’t about to let go. The rest of the top five (David, James, John, and Robert) read like the 1950s all over again, proof that parents of baby boys stayed loyal to the old Biblical favorites even as the rest of the decade was shaking things up.
•1960: David
•1961: Michael
•1962: Michael
•1963: Michael
•1964: Michael
•1965: Michael
•1966: Michael
•1967: Michael
•1968: Michael
•1969: Michael
1970s
Michael was the undisputed champ of the 1970s, taking the number one spot in every year of the decade. The real action was in the runner-up slot, where Christopher and Jason traded places for most of the decade while old favorites like James, David, and John drifted down the list. Fresh names were finally getting a seat at the table, even if no one could touch Michael.
•1970: Michael
•1971: Michael
•1972: Michael
•1973: Michael
•1974: Michael
•1975: Michael
•1976: Michael
•1977: Michael
•1978: Michael
•1979: Michael
1980s
If you went to school in the 1980s, you probably remember sitting next to at least a couple of Michaels. The name ruled all 10 years of the decade, and the top of the list hardly changed. From 1981 through 1994, Michael, Christopher and Matthew held the top three spots in that exact order, a streak almost unheard of in baby-name land. Jason, David, Joshua, Daniel, and Andrew took turns filling out the rest of the top five.
•1980: Michael
•1981: Michael
•1982: Michael
•1983: Michael
•1984: Michael
•1985: Michael
•1986: Michael
•1987: Michael
•1988: Michael
•1989: Michael
1990s
Michael kicked off the 1990s on top and held the title through 1998, its last year at number one and the end of a streak that dated back to 1961 (with David’s single year in 1960 as the only interruption). Jacob took the crown in 1999. It had been climbing the charts and hit number two in 1997, so the handoff wasn’t a total surprise. Matthew, Christopher, and Joshua filled out most of the top spots, with Tyler and Nicholas popping in briefly.
•1990: Michael
•1991: Michael
•1992: Michael
•1993: Michael
•1994: Michael
•1995: Michael
•1996: Michael
•1997: Michael
•1998: Michael
•1999: Jacob
2000s
Welcome to Jacob’s world. The name held number one in every year of the 2000s, and, in fact, every year from 1999 to 2012: 14 in a row. Michael slid to number two, where it stayed from 2000 through 2008, a pretty soft landing for a name that used to rule the list. Joshua, Matthew and Ethan rounded out the top, with Ethan jumping to number two in 2009 as a fresh pick that still felt like a classic.
•2000: Jacob
•2001: Jacob
•2002: Jacob
•2003: Jacob
•2004: Jacob
•2005: Jacob
•2006: Jacob
•2007: Jacob
•2008: Jacob
•2009: Jacob
2010s
Jacob’s 14-year reign ended in 2012, Noah took over in 2013, and Liam stepped in at number one in 2017. The two names have been inseparable ever since: from 2014 through 2025, they’ve locked down the top two spots every single year, swapping places just once, in 2017. Mason and Jayden had a moment in the top five early in the decade, but the bigger trend was toward short, soft names with a timeless feel.
•2010: Jacob
•2011: Jacob
•2012: Jacob
•2013: Noah
•2014: Noah
•2015: Noah
•2016: Noah
•2017: Liam
•2018: Liam
•2019: Liam
2020s
Liam is still on top. It’s been number one every year since 2017, which makes nine in a row through 2025. From 2020 to 2025, the podium never changed: Liam, Noah, and Oliver took the top three spots every single year. The next big thing is waiting just below them. Theodore climbed to number four in both 2024 and 2025, a sign that old-school names are staging a comeback with a new generation of parents.
•2020: Liam
•2021: Liam
•2022: Liam
•2023: Liam
•2024: Liam
•2025: Liam
