The story in the numbers

178,307 boys have been named Tommy in the United States since 1880, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1947, with 4,594 births — 0.25% 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 724 → 731).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1956, and the 1940s alone account for 21%. It has spent 144 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 21 of them in the top 100.

It is overwhelmingly a boy’s name: 2,907 girls have also been given it, 1.6% of the total.

Rank among boys, year by year

By decade

Decade

boys named Tommy

159

406

1,805

6,849

19,857

37,045

34,972

29,366

16,176

10,462

9,038

6,708

3,591

1,779

In 1947, its biggest year

Tommy was the 79th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 1947 were James, Robert, John, William and Richard. See all of 1947.

Names that rose and fell with Tommy

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.