How to use the random name generator
- Names for — girls, boys or both. With both, each draw picks girl or boy with equal chance.
- Name type — a first name alone, or a first name with a last name.
- How many — 1 to 50 names at once. A single draw never repeats a name.
- Popularity — “Popular” draws from the 100 most-given names, “Common” from the top 1,000 and “Less common too” from the top 2,000, which adds names like those a few hundred families chose that year.
Press Generate names for a fresh set. Each name has a Copy button, and the last row holds the whole list, one name per line, ready to paste into a spreadsheet or document. The label above each name shows where it ranks.
Where the names come from
The first names are the official US baby-name statistics of the Social Security Administration (SSA) for babies born in 2025, tabulated by the SSA from Social Security card applications as of March 1, 2026. The file counts 1,607,267 girls with 17,297 different names and 1,708,076 boys with 13,930; to protect privacy, the SSA lists only names given to at least five babies of one sex that year. Ranks follow the SSA’s own rule: most babies first, ties in alphabetical order.
The last names are the US Census Bureau’s list of surnames from the 2010 Census, the most recent national surname file; it counts 162,253 surnames shared by at least 100 people. Smith leads with 2,442,977 people. The census file is written in capitals without accents or apostrophes, so we restored the usual spelling of names such as O’Brien, McDonald and De La Cruz. Both sources are works of the US government and in the public domain.
The most popular baby names of 2025
Computed from the SSA file used by this generator:
| Rank | Girls | Babies | Boys | Babies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olivia | 13,544 | Liam | 20,818 |
| 2 | Charlotte | 13,400 | Noah | 20,358 |
| 3 | Emma | 12,754 | Oliver | 14,939 |
| 4 | Amelia | 12,699 | Theodore | 13,355 |
| 5 | Sophia | 12,561 | Henry | 12,020 |
| 6 | Mia | 11,078 | James | 11,945 |
| 7 | Isabella | 10,666 | Elijah | 11,111 |
| 8 | Evelyn | 9,123 | Mateo | 11,045 |
| 9 | Sofia | 8,252 | William | 10,545 |
| 10 | Eliana | 8,191 | Lucas | 10,219 |
How the names are drawn
Every name in the chosen range has exactly the same chance. The page asks your browser’s cryptographically secure generator (crypto.getRandomValues) for a number and uses rejection sampling, so no name is favored by rounding. That means a draw from the top 1,000 is as likely to give a name ranked #950 as #1 — useful when you want variety rather than the same few names. The popularity setting is how you steer toward familiar or unusual names:
- The top 100 names were given to 31.5% of girls and 38% of boys born in 2025.
- The top 1,000 cover 73.6% of girls and 81.2% of boys.
- The top 2,000 cover 83% of girls and 88.8% of boys; the 2,000th girls’ name was given to 96 babies and the 2,000th boys’ name to 76.
- The 100 most common surnames belong to 17.3% of people counted in 2010, and the top 1,000 to 41%.
With “Common”, girls and boys and full names, there are 2,000 first names and 1,000 last names, or 2,000,000 possible combinations, so repeats across separate draws are rare too.
What people use it for
- Characters for stories, games and role-play — realistic, current American names for a novel, a script, a tabletop campaign or a game’s non-player characters.
- Test data — sample customers or users for a form, a database or a design mock-up, without using a real person’s details. Pair a name with a made-up handle from the username generator.
- Baby-name brainstorming — choose “Less common too” for names outside the usual lists, then look up the ones you like.
- Classroom and party games — assign secret identities or roles; to pick among people who are present, use spin the wheel.
A random combination may match a real person — with 2,000,000 combinations of common names, many do. Don’t present generated names as real people.
Frequently asked questions
Are these real names?
Yes. Every first name was given to real babies in the United States in 2025 according to the Social Security Administration, and every last name is among the 1,000 most common US surnames in the 2010 Census. Only the combination of first and last name is random.
Why doesn’t the generator pick popular names more often?
Within the range you choose, each name has the same chance, which gives more variety. To get mostly familiar names, choose “Popular — top 100”; for unusual ones, choose “Less common too”.
Can I get names from other countries?
Not yet. These lists reflect names given in the United States, which include many Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew and other origins, but other countries publish their own name statistics with different favorites.
Is the draw really random?
Yes. It uses your browser’s cryptographically secure random generator with rejection sampling, the same method as our dice roller and password generator. Nothing is sent to a server.
Why are some names listed as both girl and boy?
Names like Avery, Riley and Parker are given to girls and boys, and the SSA counts them separately for each sex. With “Girls and boys” selected, such a name can come up from either list, but never twice in the same draw.
Last updated: October 15, 2026