The story in the numbers

610,370 boys have been named Aaron in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1989, with 15,311 births — 0.77% of all boys recorded that year.

It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 50 → 79).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1990, and the 1980s alone account for 23%. It has spent 145 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 57 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 4,377 girls have also been given it, 0.71% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Aaron

910

830

1,050

4,570

6,177

4,727

5,940

11,142

26,071

101,485

138,366

128,372

86,988

70,471

23,271

In 1989, its biggest year

Aaron was the 31st most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1989 were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and David. See all of 1989.

Names that rose and fell with Aaron

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.