Alpha Name Popularity

Charts | Table | About | By Year

How popular is Alpha?

In 2018 the rare name Alpha, ranked the 15,724th Most Popular Girls Name in the United States.

This once, top 1000 name, Alpha is currently less popular.

Its highest popularity RANKING of #301 was reached in 1881.

However, the name was bestowed upon the greatest number of babies in 1916 with 198 occurrences.

In any year, the least number of babies named Alpha was less than 5, most recently in 2017.

Decidely upward trends in the number of babies given the name Alpha occurred roughly during the years 1884-1889, 1891-1894, 1912-1915, and 1967-1970, whereas unequivocal downward movement occurred about 1927-1930, and 1961-1964.

Sometimes the name Alpha has been more popular as a girls name and sometimes it has been more popular as a boys.

For a number of years, the name Alpha has been spiralling downward in popularity. Of late however, the number of parents selecting the name Alpha for their newborn has remained about the same.

What does the future hold for the popularity of Alpha?

Overall, when compared to its most prominent year, the name's popularity is at an extremely low point.

The name Alpha is mostly unused and has recently started to plateu at its present level but may also begin to make a more decisive move up or down.

Relative to what it once was, Alpha has fallen out of favor as a given name.

*Mouse over the charts or scroll down to the table for data details.

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for Percentages.

		Alpha (Girl)		Alpha (Boy)
Year	%	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank	No. of Babies Given Name	Popul. Rank
2018		5	15,724	50	2,530
2017		< 5	--	52	2,442
2016		8	11,812	60	2,226
2015		< 5	--	43	2,767
2014		< 5	--	43	2,753
2013		5	16,693	41	2,799
2012		< 5	--	38	3,004
2011		7	13,426	33	3,307
2010		< 5	--	44	2,730
2009		< 5	--	50	2,529
2008		< 5	--	50	2,514
2007		7	14,013	46	2,641
2006		6	15,247	51	2,404
2005		9	10,958	41	2,656
2004		6	14,265	32	3,074
2003		6	13,940	40	2,546
2002		< 5	--	38	2,557
2001		10	9,390	39	2,488
2000		13	7,598	35	2,622
1999		8	10,391	33	2,608
1998		19	5,373	20	3,598
1997		22	4,661	17	3,886
1996		34	3,364	15	4,188
1995		5	13,488	14	4,288
1994		< 5	--	13	4,542
1993		< 5	--	16	3,825
1992		< 5	--	7	6,691
1991		< 5	--	10	5,107
1990		7	10,237	7	6,424
1989		12	6,548	12	4,276
1988		9	7,709	< 5	--
1987		6	9,872	5	6,986
1986		9	7,142	7	5,347
1985		10	6,469	8	4,714
1984		6	9,170	11	3,708
1983		10	6,234	14	3,072
1982		5	10,546	13	3,285
1981		11	5,898	11	3,610
1980		12	5,552	7	4,952
1979		12	5,432	15	2,901
1978		13	4,938	15	2,800
1977		12	5,215	7	4,608
1976		14	4,364	9	3,730
1975		11	5,171	11	3,253
1974		12	4,726	13	2,805
1973		15	3,976	12	2,860
1972		10	5,117	14	2,537
1971		17	3,650	10	3,152
1970		17	3,586	7	3,849
1969		11	4,427	10	2,867
1968		12	4,005	< 5	--
1967		8	4,989	9	2,770
1966		11	3,968	12	2,332
1965		20	2,742	8	2,989
1964		10	4,364	14	2,206
1963		22	2,624	8	3,045
1962		18	2,922	10	2,675
1961		21	2,677	12	2,413
1960		17	2,992	9	2,874
1959		29	2,109	10	2,665
1958		23	2,376	7	3,280
1957		20	2,563	15	2,095
1956		31	1,931	10	2,632
1955		21	2,411	8	2,968
1954		21	2,381	14	2,119
1953		23	2,174	11	2,390
1952		31	1,782	16	1,938
1951		35	1,611	13	2,139
1950		42	1,412	17	1,814
1949		33	1,628	19	1,704
1948		47	1,345	16	1,882
1947		53	1,239	13	2,173
1946		59	1,108	16	1,813
1945		43	1,213	11	2,132
1944		65	963	7	2,866
1943		51	1,124	11	2,282
1942		65	970	< 5	--
1941		52	1,012	15	1,823
1940		72	841	17	1,681
1939		61	898	10	2,290
1938		71	840	18	1,616
1937		77	778	16	1,757
1936		73	791	14	1,874
1935		91	705	20	1,542
1934		99	671	16	1,784
1933		88	693	18	1,647
1932		91	712	28	1,286
1931		101	661	23	1,459
1930		84	767	22	1,560
1929		100	698	15	2,005
1928		125	629	16	1,960
1927		159	562	30	1,350
1926		126	640	20	1,720
1925		143	609	25	1,496
1924		147	619	31	1,330
1923		161	567	26	1,461
1922		166	552	41	1,109
1921		179	528	30	1,360
1920		188	505	23	1,592
1919		189	487	27	1,386
1918		179	513	24	1,500
1917		191	469	39	1,063
1916		198	451	30	1,208
1915		182	455	30	1,181
1914		135	470	23	1,223
1913		148	403	25	996
1912		111	447	20	1,024
1911		110	385	9	1,194
1910		94	406	6	1,427
1909		86	395	< 5	--
1908		96	368	9	948
1907		87	376	10	871
1906		74	399	7	1,008
1905		73	394	5	1,237
1904		97	333	5	1,211
1903		85	341	< 5	--
1902		81	354	14	584
1901		71	360	12	598
1900		78	378	6	1,169
1899		88	319	6	932
1898		75	362	6	1,003
1897		75	339	11	652
1896		82	321	6	984
1895		75	330	< 5	--
1894		72	328	9	731
1893		62	340	< 5	--
1892		59	343	10	690
1891		59	325	7	769
1890		57	337	8	739
1889		58	321	7	796
1888		47	347	6	920
1887		42	328	5	931
1886		38	346	8	698
1885		35	337	12	548
1884		27	385	12	547
1883		32	314	11	556
1882		29	326	14	491
1881		27	301	9	596
1880		26	310	6	813

United States name popularity data is provided by the Social Security Administration and is based on Social Security card applications.

Data for a given year is not made available until well into the next year.

Data reflects what was recorded and has not been edited for errors, so for example the gender associated with a name may be incorrect.

The more babies that are given a particular name, the higher the popularity ranking. If multiple names have the same usage, the tie is broken by assigning popularity rank in alphabetical order. Therefore in the case of names with fewer occurrences, names with the same number of occurrences may have vastly different rankings because they will be interranked alphabetically.

To safeguard privacy, the SSA does not include names with less than 5 occurrences.

Please note, we update the data each May when the SSA releases new figures. All data changes at that time, including previous years, which will change minutely based on new information.