Based on SSA birth records going back to 1880. Names with fewer than 5 births per year are excluded by the SSA. For the full rarity score and age breakdown, visit howmanyofmes.com
What a Name Rarity Percentile Actually Means
If your name is in the 90th percentile, it means your name is more unique than 90% of all other names. If you're in the 10th percentile, 90% of names are rarer than yours. This framing is more useful than a raw count because it puts your name in context against the entire pool of tracked US first names. A count of 50,000 holders sounds large until you realise that places the name in roughly the 60th percentile meaning 40% of all tracked names are still rarer. Conversely, a name with 5,000 holders sits close to the 90th percentile rarer than 9 out of every 10 tracked US first names.
Rarity Percentile vs Rarity Score The Difference
This tool and the Name Rarity Calculator on this site measure two different things.
| Measure | What It Shows | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Rarity Score (0 to 100) | Based on absolute US holder count mapped to a score | Knowing if a name is common or rare in plain terms |
| Rarity Percentile (0 to 99th) | Where the name sits relative to all tracked names | Comparing two names to see which is genuinely rarer |
A name with a rarity score of 80 out of 100 might sit in the 88th percentile rarer than 88% of all names. The percentile tells you more about the name's position in the full landscape of US names. The score tells you more about the absolute count.
How Names Are Distributed Across Percentiles
The distribution of US names is not even. A small number of names account for a very large share of all births. The percentage of children receiving top-10 names has plummeted from 12% fifty years ago to merely 4.2% last year meaning names are now spread more widely than at any point in US history. Despite this spread, the bottom 20% of the percentile ranking contains hundreds of names with fewer than 50 US holders each. The top 20% the most common names contain names like Michael, James, Mary, and Jennifer, each with millions of holders.
| Percentile Range | What It Means | Approx US Holders |
|---|---|---|
| 99th+ | Rarer than 99% of all names | Under 500 |
| 95th to 98th | Very rare | 500 to 5,000 |
| 85th to 94th | Rare | 5,000 to 40,000 |
| 70th to 84th | Uncommon | 40,000 to 150,000 |
| 50th to 69th | Average | 150,000 to 500,000 |
| Below 50th | Common | Over 500,000 |
Why Percentile Matters More Than Raw Count
A name with 10,000 US holders sounds rare but it sits only in roughly the 88th percentile meaning 12% of all tracked names are still rarer. On the other hand, a name with 500 holders sits in approximately the 99th percentile genuinely exceptional. A "1 in 480" rarity means if you randomly selected 480 Americans, statistically one would share your name lower numbers indicate common names while higher numbers signify truly rare names. The percentile captures this relative position in a single number that is immediately understandable without needing to interpret an absolute count.
The percentile shows where your name sits relative to all tracked US first names. For the full count, rarity score tier, and age distribution for your name, visit HowManyOfMe.
Frequently Asked Questions
A rarity percentile gives you the clearest possible picture of where your name sits in the full landscape of US naming not just a count, but a position relative to every other tracked name. Check yours above and see the full breakdown at howmanyofmes.com.