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data story · 95 years · alphabet patterns

Which letter rules each decade?

The first letter of a baby's name shifts with naming fashion. The 1980s belonged to J (Jessica, Jennifer, Jason, John). The 2020s lean O and M (Oliver, Olivia, Matilda, Mia). We tracked the top 5 starting letters every decade since 1950.

1950s 537,659 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 J
    12.1%
  2. 2 P
    9.2%
  3. 3 M
    9.1%
  4. 4 S
    8.3%
  5. 5 R
    8.2%

1960s 924,283 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 M
    11%
  2. 2 J
    10.2%
  3. 3 S
    10.1%
  4. 4 D
    10.1%
  5. 5 P
    7.3%

1970s 882,624 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 M
    12.9%
  2. 2 J
    11.1%
  3. 3 S
    10.3%
  4. 4 A
    9.4%
  5. 5 D
    8.1%

1980s 854,184 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 J
    12.5%
  2. 2 A
    11.7%
  3. 3 M
    11.3%
  4. 4 S
    9.8%
  5. 5 D
    7.1%

1990s 830,243 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 J
    18.4%
  2. 2 A
    9.4%
  3. 3 M
    9.2%
  4. 4 S
    8.1%
  5. 5 C
    7.3%

2000s 824,014 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 J
    14.8%
  2. 2 C
    9.1%
  3. 3 A
    9.1%
  4. 4 L
    8.1%
  5. 5 M
    7.5%

2010s 1,135,754 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 A
    11.6%
  2. 2 L
    9.4%
  3. 3 E
    8.8%
  4. 4 J
    8.7%
  5. 5 M
    7.7%

2020s 604,194 babies registered across all states

  1. 1 A
    12%
  2. 2 L
    11.2%
  3. 3 E
    9.2%
  4. 4 H
    8.5%
  5. 5 M
    7.7%

What's driving the shifts?

Letter trends reflect the names that dominate each era. The J wave of the 1980s was Jessica, Jennifer, Jason, Joshua, James, John, Joseph all simultaneously being popular. When those names cooled, J's share dropped.

Today's O dominance reflects Olivia, Oliver, Owen and Otis all being current top-100 picks. M is propped up by Matilda, Mia, Mason, Max, Muhammad — spanning very different cultural traditions but converging on the same letter.

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