Name Rarity Percentile | Where Does Your Name Rank Among All US Names?
A name in the 94th percentile is rarer than 94% of every tracked US first name. Find your exact percentile.
Name Rarity Percentile Checker
The SSA tracks tens of thousands of unique first names across more than a century of U.S. birth records, yet most people have no idea where their own name actually falls within that pool. Enter your first name below to find its exact rarity percentile — a single number showing exactly how your name compares to every other tracked name in the country.
What a Rarity Percentile Actually Means
A percentile tells you how your name compares to the entire pool of tracked names, not just a raw headcount. If your name sits in the 90th percentile, it means your name is rarer than 90% of all tracked first names. If it sits in the 10th percentile, the opposite is true 90% of names are rarer than yours.
This framing is often more useful than a plain count. A name with tens of thousands of holders might sound impressively rare at first glance, but once placed in context against the full landscape of U.S. names, it could still fall solidly in the “average” range. Percentile ranking puts a number into real perspective.
Rarity Percentile vs. Rarity Score What’s the Difference?
It’s easy to confuse a rarity percentile with a rarity score, but they answer two different questions:
| Measure | What It Shows | Best Used For |
|---|---|---|
| Rarity Score (0–100) | Based on your name’s absolute holder count | Quickly knowing if a name is common or rare in plain terms |
| Rarity Percentile (0–99th) | Shows where your name ranks relative to all other names | Comparing two names to see which is genuinely rarer |
A name can have a solid rarity score while still landing higher or lower than expected on the percentile scale, since percentile reflects relative position rather than absolute count alone.
How Names Are Distributed Across the Percentile Scale
Name distribution in the U.S. isn’t even a relatively small number of names historically accounted for a large share of total births, though that concentration has loosened considerably compared to previous generations. A wide gap exists between the small number of extremely common names at the top and the long tail of far rarer names that make up much of the pool.
| Percentile Range | What It Means | Approx. US Holders |
|---|---|---|
| 99th+ | Rarer than 99% of all names | Under 500 |
| 95th–98th | Very rare | 500 – 5,000 |
| 85th–94th | Rare | 5,000 – 40,000 |
| 70th–84th | Uncommon | 40,000 – 150,000 |
| 50th–69th | Average | 150,000 – 500,000 |
| Below 50th | Common | Over 500,000 |
Why Percentile Often Matters More Than Raw Count
A name with a seemingly large holder count can still land only in the upper-middle of the percentile scale, since a meaningful share of tracked names are rarer still. Meanwhile, a name with a fairly modest holder count can land near the very top of the rarity scale, genuinely standing out among the full pool of names.
Percentile captures this relative position in a single, easy-to-understand number without requiring you to interpret an absolute count on its own, which can be misleading without context.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a name rarity percentile?
It shows what percentage of all tracked U.S. first names are rarer than yours. A name in the 94th percentile, for example, is rarer than 94% of all tracked names.
What’s the difference between a rarity score and a rarity percentile?
A rarity score is based on your name’s absolute holder count in the U.S. A rarity percentile shows where your name ranks relative to every other tracked name. One tells you how rare your name is in plain terms; the other tells you how it compares to the full field.
What does a 99th percentile name mean?
It means the name is rarer than 99% of all tracked U.S. first names generally reflecting a very small number of total holders nationwide.
Is a higher or lower percentile rarer?
Higher is rarer. A name in the 95th percentile is rarer than 95% of tracked names, while a name in the 20th percentile is only rarer than 20% of names meaning it’s actually quite common.
How many first names does the SSA track?
The SSA maintains public records for tens of thousands of unique first names dating back to 1880, though names with very low yearly birth counts are excluded from public data for privacy reasons.
Conclusion
A rarity percentile gives you the clearest possible picture of where your name truly sits not just a raw number, but its position relative to every other name in the pool. Check yours above to see the full breakdown.