The most common names of people born in Arkansas

Social Security has recorded about 3.6 million births in Arkansas since 1910 under names it lists. By our estimate, about 2.3 million of those people are alive today, and their average age is 45. The most common names among them are Mary for women and James for men.

These are the names of people born in Arkansas, wherever they live now. Social Security records state of birth, not where people live, so people who moved to Arkansas from elsewhere aren't counted here, and people born here who moved away are.

Women and girls born in Arkansas

Most common names of living women born in Arkansas
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Mary	22,000	68
2	Linda	14,000	73
3	Jennifer	11,000	46
4	Patricia	9,500	69
5	Elizabeth	9,500	45
6	Barbara	9,200	74
7	Ashley	8,900	36
8	Sarah	8,800	42
9	Brenda	8,700	69
10	Betty	8,700	79
11	Jessica	8,600	37
12	Amanda	8,300	43
13	Kimberly	8,100	48
14	Carolyn	7,600	73
15	Angela	7,400	52
16	Rebecca	7,200	54
17	Lisa	7,100	57
18	Sandra	6,900	68
19	Shirley	6,900	77
20	Emily	6,900	29
21	Donna	6,800	67
22	Sharon	6,700	69
23	Karen	6,400	63
24	Melissa	6,200	50
25	Stephanie	6,000	46
26	Emma	5,900	30
27	Deborah	5,700	67
28	Amy	5,400	46
29	Hannah	5,300	26
30	Cynthia	5,200	60

Men and boys born in Arkansas

Most common names of living men born in Arkansas
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	James	38,000	58
2	Michael	27,000	49
3	John	25,000	54
4	William	23,000	50
5	Robert	22,000	58
6	David	21,000	54
7	Charles	17,000	60
8	Christopher	17,000	40
9	Joshua	12,000	34
10	Matthew	11,000	35
11	Larry	10,000	67
12	Joseph	10,000	42
13	Thomas	10,000	53
14	Richard	9,700	59
15	Jerry	9,400	67
16	Jason	9,100	43
17	Kenneth	8,800	58
18	Jacob	8,800	27
19	Billy	8,500	66
20	Daniel	8,500	40
21	Justin	8,300	36
22	Steven	8,300	50
23	Brandon	8,100	35
24	Anthony	7,800	42
25	Gary	7,800	64
26	Timothy	7,800	48
27	Kevin	7,500	45
28	Mark	7,400	55
29	Andrew	7,400	35
30	Jimmy	7,400	64

Average ages here are for people with the name born in Arkansas, not the national average.

Names more common in Arkansas than nationally

Among living people born in Arkansas, these names make up a bigger share than they do nationwide. Rickey is 5.6× as common among people born here as among all Americans.

Names more common among people born in Arkansas than nationally
#	Name	Vs. national	Alive today	Average age
1	Rickey	5.6×	2,200	62
2	Billy	5.4×	8,600	66
3	Patsy	5.4×	2,600	80
4	Jimmy	4.8×	7,400	64
5	Bobby	4.8×	7,200	65
6	Freddie	4.6×	1,600	71
7	Bobbie	4.5×	2,200	73
8	Donnie	4.3×	1,600	66
9	Wilma	4.2×	1,300	80
10	Tommy	4.2×	4,000	63
11	Jimmie	4.2×	1,800	74
12	Rosie	4.1×	1,200	74
13	Glenda	4.0×	2,500	73
14	Mattie	4.0×	970	62
15	Shelia	3.8×	1,300	64

The newest Arkansas babies

The most popular names for babies born in Arkansas in 2025, with the average age of everyone in the US who has each name.

Girls

Top girl names of 2025 in Arkansas
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Charlotte	148	30
2	Amelia	122	16
3	Olivia	119	18
4	Isabella	103	15
5	Eleanor	95	30
6	Evelyn	87	34
7	Emma	83	20
8	Harper	83	9
9	Willow	79	10
10	Sophia	78	16

Boys

Top boy names of 2025 in Arkansas
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Liam	167	11
2	Hudson	147	9
3	Oliver	143	13
4	Elijah	138	16
5	Noah	134	16
6	James	131	54
7	Henry	128	34
8	William	125	51
9	Waylon	122	10
10	Theodore	106	29

About these numbers

Social Security publishes names by state of birth for births from 1910 on, listing a name only when at least five babies of the same sex got it in the state that year, so rare names are missing. We estimate how many of those babies are alive with SSA's national cohort life tables (there are no state tables), and count a name as a girls' or boys' name by which sex has more living people born here. “Vs. national” compares the name's share of living people born in Arkansas with its share of all living Americans in the national records. How we calculate this