Popularity of the name Noah, 1880–2025
Noah has never been more popular than it is now: in 2025, 20,358 boys were named Noah, about 1 in 84 boys born in the U.S. that year, ranking #2. In all, Social Security counts 529,602 boys named Noah since 1880. Social Security’s records also list 5,020 girls named Noah.
- Peak year
- 2025
- Rank in 2025
- #2
- Babies in 2025
- 20,358
- Total since 1880
- 529,602
Where it stands now
Over the last ten years it has slipped from #1 in 2015 to #2 in 2025, with 19,680 boys named Noah in 2015 and 20,358 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Noah ranked highest in the 2010s, at #1, with 183,378 boys given the name that decade. It ranked #154 in the 1880s and #2 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 103 in 1880 (#126), 92 in 1900 (#204), 242 in 1920 (#384), 150 in 1940 (#471), 139 in 1960 (#665), 928 in 1980 (#240), 14,282 in 2000 (#27) and 18,464 in 2020 (#2).
Highs and lows
The most boys given the name in a single year was 20,409, in 2024. That is not its peak year: Social Security’s records hold more boys for 2024 than for 2025, so the name’s share of births was smaller. Its best rank in any year was #1, first reached in 2013.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1880 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 boys named Noah, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880 | 103 | #126 |
| 1881 | 81 | #152 |
| 1882 | 108 | #129 |
| 1883 | 81 | #158 |
| 1884 | 94 | #146 |
| 1885 | 76 | #174 |
| 1886 | 90 | #155 |
| 1887 | 94 | #138 |
| 1888 | 83 | #177 |
| 1889 | 85 | #158 |
| 1890 | 74 | #180 |
| 1891 | 76 | #170 |
| 1892 | 79 | #195 |
| 1893 | 69 | #205 |
| 1894 | 74 | #198 |
| 1895 | 72 | #199 |
| 1896 | 69 | #216 |
| 1897 | 58 | #222 |
| 1898 | 68 | #211 |
| 1899 | 47 | #244 |
| 1900 | 92 | #204 |
| 1901 | 56 | #232 |
| 1902 | 69 | #215 |
| 1903 | 48 | #266 |
| 1904 | 46 | #277 |
| 1905 | 60 | #251 |
| 1906 | 60 | #256 |
| 1907 | 61 | #269 |
| 1908 | 68 | #255 |
| 1909 | 62 | #285 |
| 1910 | 87 | #261 |
| 1911 | 82 | #291 |
| 1912 | 116 | #355 |
| 1913 | 141 | #348 |
| 1914 | 171 | #360 |
| 1915 | 189 | #390 |
| 1916 | 229 | #355 |
| 1917 | 219 | #382 |
| 1918 | 247 | #377 |
| 1919 | 253 | #362 |
| 1920 | 242 | #384 |
| 1921 | 247 | #384 |
| 1922 | 236 | #390 |
| 1923 | 259 | #370 |
| 1924 | 239 | #391 |
| 1925 | 219 | #404 |
| 1926 | 235 | #382 |
| 1927 | 236 | #385 |
| 1928 | 174 | #457 |
| 1929 | 197 | #420 |
| 1930 | 191 | #426 |
| 1931 | 180 | #420 |
| 1932 | 182 | #416 |
| 1933 | 173 | #411 |
| 1934 | 148 | #462 |
| 1935 | 175 | #417 |
| 1936 | 147 | #465 |
| 1937 | 143 | #472 |
| 1938 | 145 | #478 |
| 1939 | 122 | #514 |
| 1940 | 150 | #471 |
| 1941 | 161 | #466 |
| 1942 | 182 | #457 |
| 1943 | 155 | #497 |
| 1944 | 157 | #482 |
| 1945 | 133 | #518 |
| 1946 | 130 | #562 |
| 1947 | 156 | #539 |
| 1948 | 150 | #543 |
| 1949 | 149 | #547 |
| 1950 | 153 | #547 |
| 1951 | 154 | #546 |
| 1952 | 143 | #582 |
| 1953 | 161 | #557 |
| 1954 | 131 | #642 |
| 1955 | 133 | #645 |
| 1956 | 138 | #646 |
| 1957 | 153 | #622 |
| 1958 | 137 | #657 |
| 1959 | 153 | #623 |
| 1960 | 139 | #665 |
| 1961 | 126 | #682 |
| 1962 | 140 | #654 |
| 1963 | 124 | #695 |
| 1964 | 138 | #660 |
| 1965 | 119 | #681 |
| 1966 | 157 | #598 |
| 1967 | 154 | #601 |
| 1968 | 174 | #574 |
| 1969 | 248 | #487 |
| 1970 | 340 | #445 |
| 1971 | 478 | #367 |
| 1972 | 422 | #384 |
| 1973 | 492 | #344 |
| 1974 | 548 | #324 |
| 1975 | 580 | #311 |
| 1976 | 543 | #324 |
| 1977 | 683 | #285 |
| 1978 | 689 | #281 |
| 1979 | 913 | #240 |
| 1980 | 928 | #240 |
| 1981 | 1,400 | #180 |
| 1982 | 1,817 | #154 |
| 1983 | 1,542 | #169 |
| 1984 | 1,246 | #194 |
| 1985 | 1,109 | #217 |
| 1986 | 1,038 | #227 |
| 1987 | 996 | #236 |
| 1988 | 1,067 | #230 |
| 1989 | 1,242 | #219 |
| 1990 | 1,310 | #228 |
| 1991 | 1,316 | #225 |
| 1992 | 1,424 | #217 |
| 1993 | 1,504 | #202 |
| 1994 | 2,081 | #158 |
| 1995 | 3,824 | #99 |
| 1996 | 7,184 | #50 |
| 1997 | 9,280 | #38 |
| 1998 | 13,415 | #29 |
| 1999 | 14,931 | #24 |
| 2000 | 14,282 | #27 |
| 2001 | 13,494 | #28 |
| 2002 | 12,076 | #31 |
| 2003 | 11,843 | #31 |
| 2004 | 11,916 | #29 |
| 2005 | 13,905 | #23 |
| 2006 | 16,342 | #15 |
| 2007 | 16,605 | #14 |
| 2008 | 15,808 | #15 |
| 2009 | 17,262 | #9 |
| 2010 | 16,481 | #7 |
| 2011 | 16,883 | #5 |
| 2012 | 17,385 | #4 |
| 2013 | 18,291 | #1 |
| 2014 | 19,344 | #1 |
| 2015 | 19,680 | #1 |
| 2016 | 19,188 | #1 |
| 2017 | 18,507 | #2 |
| 2018 | 18,441 | #2 |
| 2019 | 19,178 | #2 |
| 2020 | 18,464 | #2 |
| 2021 | 18,919 | #2 |
| 2022 | 18,758 | #2 |
| 2023 | 19,116 | #2 |
| 2024 | 20,409 | #2 |
| 2025 | 20,358 | #2 |
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.