Born in 2012 · Gen Z
Baby names of 2012
The Social Security name files, which cover every name given to at least 5 babies, list 3,657,999 babies born in 2012: 1,761,053 girls and 1,896,946 boys. Sophia and Jacob were the most popular names, and 8.9% of all babies got a top-10 name, down from 11.1% in 2002. The name most tied to 2012 is Addyson: among girls, it was 8.0× as common that year as in the decades around it.
Quick facts
- Generation
- Gen Z
- Born 1997–2012
- Babies on record
- 3,657,999
- 1,761,053 girls · 1,896,946 boys
- Different names
- 19,534
- for girls, plus 14,250 for boys (5+ babies each)
- Top-10 names
- 8.9%
- of babies got one · girls 8.8%, boys 8.9%
Top 10 names of 2012
- Sophia was the #1 name for girls every year from 2011 to 2013.
- Jacob was the #1 name for boys every year from 1999 to 2012.
How many babies got a top-10 name?
In 2012, 8.9% of babies were given one of that year's 10 most popular names. Across all years, that share fell from 29.0% in 1935 to 7.5% in 2025.
Names that sound like 2012
These names were far more common in 2012 than in the decades around it: the multiplier compares each name's share of 2012 babies with its average share 6–25 years before and after.
| Name | Sex | Rank | Vs. nearby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addyson | Girl | #255 | 8.0× |
| Khloe | Girl | #55 | 7.8× |
| Bentley | Boy | #75 | 7.7× |
| Kinley | Girl | #180 | 6.8× |
| Giuliana | Girl | #296 | 6.7× |
| Aubree | Girl | #60 | 6.2× |
| Brantley | Boy | #158 | 6.0× |
| Kaydence | Girl | #272 | 5.9× |
| London | Girl | #94 | 5.9× |
| Iker | Boy | #231 | 5.5× |
Names that peaked in 2012
Each of these reached its highest share of US babies in 2012, the high point in records going back to 1880. Rank is for 2012.
| Name | Sex | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Sophia | Girl | #1 |
| Eli | Boy | #43 |
| Aubrey | Girl | #15 |
| Zoey | Girl | #20 |
| Zoe | Girl | #30 |
| Ayden | Boy | #68 |
| Blake | Boy | #71 |
| Bentley | Boy | #75 |
| Aaliyah | Girl | #36 |
| Reagan | Girl | #97 |
New to the top 1,000 in 2012
Names that made the national top 1,000 for the first time in 2012 (records go back to 1880).
Girls
- Cataleya639 babies
- Paislee385 babies
- Adley378 babies
- Coraline326 babies
- Azalea296 babies
- Everly290 babies
- Lillyana289 babies
- Emmalynn287 babies
Boys
- Neymar338 babies
- Brentley304 babies
- Thiago246 babies
- Jionni243 babies
- Kyrie243 babies
- Lucca226 babies
- Axton222 babies
- Dariel212 babies
Where are they now?
Top-100 names of 2012 that have since dropped out of the top 1,000. Ranks are for 2012 and 2025.
Girls
- Alexa #57 in 2012 , now #1,029 in 2025
Boys
Every top-100 boys' name from 2012 is still in the 2025 top 1,000.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data