Baby Names & Parental Income: The American Data

Overview

Naming trends and parental income are correlated across America. Using Social Security Administration birth records for 2023 cross-referenced with U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey income data by race and ethnicity, we built a weighted income index for every name. The dollar figures represent a weighted average of median household income across the demographic groups that most commonly give each name — not a prediction for any individual family.

Names tied to higher income estimates tend to be classical or literary. Names at the lower end reflect different cultural communities where naming practices follow distinct patterns. Both are rational choices — the data simply maps the patterns at population level.

Boys & Girls — 🇺🇸 100 names

Boys 50

Rank ▾	Name	2023 Births	Est. Parent Income	Index	Tier
1	Liam	20,886	$70,180	20th %ile	Lower-Middle
2	Noah	19,088	$70,799	24th %ile	Lower-Middle
3	Oliver	14,782	$80,399	86th %ile	High
4	James	11,727	$77,525	67th %ile	Upper-Middle
5	Elijah	11,503	$65,708	4th %ile	Lower-Middle
6	Mateo	11,279	$66,041	6th %ile	Lower-Middle
7	Theodore	11,084	$84,067	98th %ile	High
8	Henry	10,988	$82,284	94th %ile	High
9	Lucas	10,882	$80,398	84th %ile	High
10	William	10,653	$79,845	78th %ile	Upper-Middle
11	Benjamin	10,212	$78,128	71th %ile	Upper-Middle
12	Levi	9,384	$73,619	45th %ile	Middle
13	Sebastian	8,890	$70,737	22th %ile	Lower-Middle
14	Jack	8,710	$80,258	82th %ile	High
15	Ezra	8,474	$71,968	29th %ile	Lower-Middle
16	Michael	8,416	$72,792	35th %ile	Middle
17	Daniel	8,391	$74,644	51th %ile	Middle
18	Leo	8,152	$79,577	76th %ile	Upper-Middle
19	Samuel	8,019	$75,726	55th %ile	Upper-Middle
20	Owen	8,011	$81,825	92th %ile	High
21	Hudson	7,951	$81,816	90th %ile	High
22	Alexander	7,909	$76,160	59th %ile	Upper-Middle
23	Asher	7,891	$72,576	33th %ile	Middle
24	Luca	7,804	$77,786	69th %ile	Upper-Middle
25	Ethan	7,802	$79,343	73th %ile	Upper-Middle
26	John	7,793	$76,592	63th %ile	Upper-Middle
27	David	7,413	$75,839	57th %ile	Upper-Middle
28	Jackson	7,325	$83,797	96th %ile	High
29	Joseph	7,268	$76,625	65th %ile	Upper-Middle
30	Mason	7,257	$72,986	37th %ile	Middle
31	Luke	7,244	$73,321	41th %ile	Middle
32	Matthew	7,221	$70,091	18th %ile	Lower-Middle
33	Julian	7,091	$74,649	53th %ile	Middle
34	Dylan	7,072	$73,340	43th %ile	Middle
35	Jacob	7,005	$74,210	47th %ile	Middle
36	Elias	7,003	$69,126	12th %ile	Lower-Middle
37	Maverick	6,979	$68,386	10th %ile	Lower-Middle
38	Gabriel	6,777	$69,385	14th %ile	Lower-Middle
39	Logan	6,704	$71,713	27th %ile	Lower-Middle
40	Aiden	6,692	$76,422	61th %ile	Upper-Middle
41	Thomas	6,620	$80,547	88th %ile	High
42	Isaac	6,606	$74,542	49th %ile	Middle
43	Miles	6,581	$84,139	100th %ile	High
44	Grayson	6,465	$67,632	8th %ile	Lower-Middle
45	Santiago	6,353	$64,936	2th %ile	Lower-Middle
46	Wyatt	6,269	$80,042	80th %ile	High
47	Anthony	6,265	$72,483	31th %ile	Middle
48	Carter	5,870	$69,420	16th %ile	Lower-Middle
49	Jayden	5,639	$73,000	39th %ile	Middle
50	Ezekiel	5,596	$64,936	2th %ile	Lower-Middle

Girls 50

Rank ▾	Name	2023 Births	Est. Parent Income	Index	Tier
1	Olivia	15,313	$78,071	65th %ile	Upper-Middle
2	Emma	13,579	$77,678	61th %ile	Upper-Middle
3	Charlotte	12,628	$81,656	88th %ile	High
4	Amelia	12,352	$75,645	45th %ile	Middle
5	Sophia	11,984	$76,220	49th %ile	Middle
6	Mia	11,395	$75,731	47th %ile	Middle
7	Isabella	10,853	$71,655	16th %ile	Lower-Middle
8	Ava	9,724	$73,814	29th %ile	Lower-Middle
9	Evelyn	9,113	$87,784	98th %ile	High
10	Luna	7,841	$71,913	18th %ile	Lower-Middle
11	Harper	7,792	$89,678	100th %ile	High
12	Sofia	7,665	$74,875	37th %ile	Middle
13	Camila	7,577	$66,076	4th %ile	Lower-Middle
14	Eleanor	6,757	$86,851	92th %ile	High
15	Elizabeth	6,600	$74,640	35th %ile	Middle
16	Violet	6,364	$72,309	27th %ile	Lower-Middle
17	Scarlett	6,311	$74,089	33th %ile	Middle
18	Hazel	6,181	$79,460	73th %ile	Upper-Middle
19	Emily	6,172	$78,078	67th %ile	Upper-Middle
20	Lily	6,170	$82,410	90th %ile	High
21	Gianna	6,143	$68,080	6th %ile	Lower-Middle
22	Aurora	6,080	$76,759	53th %ile	Middle
23	Penelope	6,065	$77,067	59th %ile	Upper-Middle
24	Nora	6,020	$87,631	96th %ile	High
25	Aria	6,018	$78,276	69th %ile	Upper-Middle
26	Chloe	5,987	$81,382	86th %ile	High
27	Ellie	5,968	$87,483	94th %ile	High
28	Mila	5,913	$76,844	55th %ile	Upper-Middle
29	Avery	5,874	$75,117	39th %ile	Middle
30	Layla	5,698	$72,083	20th %ile	Lower-Middle
31	Abigail	5,682	$73,902	31th %ile	Middle
32	Ella	5,659	$79,097	71th %ile	Upper-Middle
33	Isla	5,381	$80,853	84th %ile	High
34	Eliana	5,352	$70,439	12th %ile	Lower-Middle
35	Nova	5,274	$60,290	2th %ile	Lower-Middle
36	Zoe	5,188	$75,376	41th %ile	Middle
37	Madison	5,174	$71,517	14th %ile	Lower-Middle
38	Ivy	5,057	$75,426	43th %ile	Middle
39	Grace	4,904	$77,033	57th %ile	Upper-Middle
40	Lucy	4,882	$80,042	78th %ile	Upper-Middle
41	Willow	4,761	$80,042	78th %ile	Upper-Middle
42	Emilia	4,684	$77,914	63th %ile	Upper-Middle
43	Riley	4,637	$72,144	22th %ile	Lower-Middle
44	Naomi	4,494	$72,244	24th %ile	Lower-Middle
45	Victoria	4,449	$68,831	10th %ile	Lower-Middle
46	Stella	4,366	$80,659	82th %ile	High
47	Elena	4,276	$76,666	51th %ile	Middle
48	Hannah	4,117	$80,140	80th %ile	High
49	Valentina	4,086	$68,769	8th %ile	Lower-Middle
50	Maya	4,085	$79,754	76th %ile	Upper-Middle

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Methodology & Sources

Name Data

Top 50 names by gender from U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) 2023 national birth records. The SSA publishes all names given to 5 or more babies per year.

Income Index

A demographic-income weighting method was used: (1) Birth counts by racial/ethnic group from New York State Vital Statistics 2021 (available breakdowns: White non-Hispanic, Black non-Hispanic, Asian, Hispanic); (2) National median household income by race/ethnicity from U.S. Census ACS 5-Year Estimates 2022 (variables B19013A, B19013B, B19013D, B19013I, fetched via the Census API); (3) For each name: weighted income = Σ(group births × group median income) / total group births. Names absent from the NY demographic data are assigned the national demographic-weighted average (~$66,500). These are population-level patterns, not individual predictions.

Limitations

Race and ethnicity mediate name–income correlations in the U.S.; this method captures that but cannot isolate it.
NY Vital Statistics are used as a demographic proxy; the pattern may differ in other states.
Any individual name appears at all income levels — these are aggregate signals, not labels.

Data inquiries: press@media.primespotpr.com

Name Database

Name origin, meaning, and cross-country frequency data sourced from babynames.help — the largest open baby-name database covering 190,000+ names across 40 countries (April 2026).

Story Angles for Journalists

This dataset is free to use with attribution to babynames.help. Press enquiries: press@media.primespotpr.com

The Wealth Ladder Hidden in a Name

Theodore, Miles, and Harper sit in the top income tier. Santiago, Ezekiel, and Nova sit at the bottom. A baby's name — before they speak a word — already correlates with their family's economic standing. What does that mean for social mobility?

Old Money Names Are Back

Classical and literary names (Henry, Eleanor, Oliver, Lily) dominate the High tier. Mass-market, multicultural, and virtue names cluster lower. Is American naming culture reinforcing — or merely reflecting — economic stratification?

The Hispanic Naming Gap

Almost every Hispanic-origin name in the top 50 (Mateo, Santiago, Elias, Gabriel) falls in the Lower-Middle tier. This data maps a structural income gap, not a cultural preference — a story about systemic inequality in plain sight.

Boys vs. Girls: A Different Class Pattern

The top girls' names skew slightly higher in income tier than boys'. Compare Harper ($89k) vs. Liam ($70k), Eleanor ($87k) vs. Noah ($70k). Are parents investing differently in daughters' "cultural capital"?

What No Parent Wants to Admit

Sociologists call this "cultural capital signalling" — naming as a class marker. Most parents will say they chose a name because they loved it. Yet the aggregate data, 20,000 births at a time, tells a remarkably consistent story.