Popularity of the name Alexander, 1880–2025
Alexander was at its most popular in 1993, when 20,530 boys were given the name: about 1 in 96 boys born in the U.S. that year, ranking #21. In 2025, 7,230 boys were named Alexander, ranking #30. In all, Social Security counts 736,123 boys named Alexander since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 4,545 girls named Alexander.
- Peak year
- 1993
- Rank in 1993
- #21
- Babies in 1993
- 20,530
- Rank in 2025
- #30
- Total since 1880
- 736,123
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #8 in 2015 to #30 in 2025, with 14,584 boys named Alexander in 2015 and 7,230 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Alexander ranked highest in the 2010s, at #8, with 142,161 boys given the name that decade. It ranked #82 in the 1880s and #17 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 211 in 1880 (#73), 260 in 1900 (#93), 1,474 in 1920 (#117), 760 in 1940 (#188), 1,199 in 1960 (#232), 3,279 in 1980 (#91), 17,290 in 2000 (#20) and 10,268 in 2020 (#10).
Highs and lows
The most boys given the name in a single year was 20,530, in 1993. Its best rank in any year was #4, first reached in 2009.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 boys named Alexander, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 211 | #73 |
| 1881 | 209 | #71 |
| 1882 | 225 | #79 |
| 1883 | 187 | #80 |
| 1884 | 236 | #76 |
| 1885 | 205 | #78 |
| 1886 | 206 | #83 |
| 1887 | 180 | #87 |
| 1888 | 237 | #82 |
| 1889 | 185 | #93 |
| 1890 | 202 | #85 |
| 1891 | 172 | #95 |
| 1892 | 202 | #95 |
| 1893 | 218 | #83 |
| 1894 | 199 | #95 |
| 1895 | 199 | #97 |
| 1896 | 232 | #87 |
| 1897 | 172 | #103 |
| 1898 | 180 | #106 |
| 1899 | 178 | #97 |
| 1900 | 260 | #93 |
| 1901 | 162 | #102 |
| 1902 | 216 | #93 |
| 1903 | 195 | #100 |
| 1904 | 203 | #103 |
| 1905 | 210 | #103 |
| 1906 | 204 | #105 |
| 1907 | 279 | #92 |
| 1908 | 246 | #104 |
| 1909 | 255 | #107 |
| 1910 | 324 | #101 |
| 1911 | 426 | #94 |
| 1912 | 803 | #97 |
| 1913 | 937 | #98 |
| 1914 | 1,169 | #98 |
| 1915 | 1,432 | #103 |
| 1916 | 1,584 | #99 |
| 1917 | 1,664 | #97 |
| 1918 | 1,591 | #104 |
| 1919 | 1,422 | #113 |
| 1920 | 1,474 | #117 |
| 1921 | 1,533 | #116 |
| 1922 | 1,359 | #125 |
| 1923 | 1,293 | #129 |
| 1924 | 1,381 | #129 |
| 1925 | 1,224 | #137 |
| 1926 | 1,150 | #146 |
| 1927 | 1,092 | #146 |
| 1928 | 1,048 | #152 |
| 1929 | 985 | #156 |
| 1930 | 872 | #168 |
| 1931 | 795 | #172 |
| 1932 | 774 | #178 |
| 1933 | 659 | #187 |
| 1934 | 616 | #200 |
| 1935 | 702 | #186 |
| 1936 | 613 | #200 |
| 1937 | 675 | #191 |
| 1938 | 666 | #193 |
| 1939 | 723 | #186 |
| 1940 | 760 | #188 |
| 1941 | 818 | #184 |
| 1942 | 861 | #184 |
| 1943 | 924 | #178 |
| 1944 | 864 | #183 |
| 1945 | 891 | #178 |
| 1946 | 964 | #188 |
| 1947 | 1,081 | #190 |
| 1948 | 1,129 | #183 |
| 1949 | 1,185 | #180 |
| 1950 | 1,164 | #189 |
| 1951 | 1,212 | #190 |
| 1952 | 1,283 | #186 |
| 1953 | 1,262 | #195 |
| 1954 | 1,236 | #200 |
| 1955 | 1,170 | #208 |
| 1956 | 1,235 | #211 |
| 1957 | 1,264 | #212 |
| 1958 | 1,188 | #220 |
| 1959 | 1,166 | #233 |
| 1960 | 1,199 | #232 |
| 1961 | 1,227 | #223 |
| 1962 | 1,218 | #221 |
| 1963 | 1,308 | #214 |
| 1964 | 1,288 | #212 |
| 1965 | 1,321 | #191 |
| 1966 | 1,368 | #182 |
| 1967 | 1,454 | #178 |
| 1968 | 1,773 | #154 |
| 1969 | 2,012 | #150 |
| 1970 | 2,463 | #137 |
| 1971 | 2,358 | #134 |
| 1972 | 2,116 | #129 |
| 1973 | 2,259 | #116 |
| 1974 | 2,354 | #112 |
| 1975 | 2,439 | #105 |
| 1976 | 2,443 | #107 |
| 1977 | 2,704 | #96 |
| 1978 | 2,738 | #98 |
| 1979 | 3,058 | #94 |
| 1980 | 3,279 | #91 |
| 1981 | 4,237 | #70 |
| 1982 | 4,593 | #65 |
| 1983 | 4,806 | #63 |
| 1984 | 6,492 | #54 |
| 1985 | 8,295 | #50 |
| 1986 | 10,609 | #41 |
| 1987 | 11,835 | #37 |
| 1988 | 13,341 | #34 |
| 1989 | 14,523 | #32 |
| 1990 | 16,194 | #28 |
| 1991 | 17,640 | #26 |
| 1992 | 20,069 | #23 |
| 1993 | 20,530 | #21 |
| 1994 | 20,101 | #22 |
| 1995 | 19,456 | #21 |
| 1996 | 17,964 | #22 |
| 1997 | 17,112 | #22 |
| 1998 | 17,466 | #22 |
| 1999 | 17,420 | #21 |
| 2000 | 17,290 | #20 |
| 2001 | 16,720 | #20 |
| 2002 | 17,718 | #15 |
| 2003 | 17,714 | #16 |
| 2004 | 17,925 | #15 |
| 2005 | 18,130 | #13 |
| 2006 | 18,235 | #12 |
| 2007 | 18,150 | #11 |
| 2008 | 18,711 | #6 |
| 2009 | 18,254 | #4 |
| 2010 | 16,769 | #6 |
| 2011 | 15,717 | #8 |
| 2012 | 15,259 | #9 |
| 2013 | 14,923 | #8 |
| 2014 | 15,449 | #8 |
| 2015 | 14,584 | #8 |
| 2016 | 13,446 | #11 |
| 2017 | 12,577 | #13 |
| 2018 | 12,110 | #11 |
| 2019 | 11,327 | #10 |
| 2020 | 10,268 | #10 |
| 2021 | 9,425 | #13 |
| 2022 | 8,757 | #17 |
| 2023 | 7,918 | #22 |
| 2024 | 7,547 | #27 |
| 2025 | 7,230 | #30 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.