The most common names of people born in Mississippi

Social Security has recorded about 4.2 million births in Mississippi since 1910 under names it lists. By our estimate, about 2.7 million of those people are alive today, and their average age is 48. The most common names among them are Mary for women and James for men.

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

Women and girls born in Mississippi

Most common names of living women born in Mississippi
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Mary	37,000	66
2	Linda	16,000	70
3	Patricia	13,000	68
4	Jennifer	12,000	48
5	Barbara	12,000	72
6	Elizabeth	11,000	49
7	Dorothy	11,000	75
8	Betty	11,000	75
9	Brenda	10,000	67
10	Kimberly	9,700	47
11	Shirley	9,600	73
12	Angela	9,500	53
13	Jessica	9,100	39
14	Sarah	8,900	50
15	Ashley	8,900	37
16	Sandra	8,700	67
17	Annie	8,400	73
18	Amanda	7,900	45
19	Carolyn	7,800	69
20	Lisa	7,500	58
21	Cynthia	7,300	62
22	Anna	6,700	35
23	Deborah	6,700	67
24	Emma	6,600	43
25	Martha	6,600	73
26	Pamela	6,600	61
27	Stephanie	6,400	48
28	Rebecca	6,400	55
29	Melissa	6,300	51
30	Gloria	6,300	70

Men and boys born in Mississippi

Most common names of living men born in Mississippi
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	James	54,000	58
2	John	35,000	54
3	William	33,000	51
4	Robert	33,000	59
5	Michael	30,000	49
6	Charles	24,000	59
7	David	23,000	54
8	Christopher	22,000	40
9	Willie	18,000	69
10	Thomas	15,000	53
11	Joseph	14,000	46
12	Joshua	12,000	32
13	Larry	12,000	64
14	Richard	12,000	57
15	Anthony	11,000	45
16	Kenneth	10,000	56
17	Timothy	10,000	47
18	Jerry	9,900	64
19	Matthew	9,800	35
20	George	9,100	64
21	Daniel	8,900	43
22	Justin	8,600	34
23	Jason	8,500	43
24	Jonathan	8,400	37
25	Andrew	8,000	40
26	Johnny	7,900	62
27	Billy	7,900	65
28	Bobby	7,500	64
29	Brandon	7,500	33
30	Steven	7,400	48

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

Names more common in Mississippi than nationally

Among living people born in Mississippi, these names make up a bigger share than they do nationwide. Earnestine is 19.2× as common among people born here as among all Americans.

Names more common among people born in Mississippi than nationally
#	Name	Vs. national	Alive today	Average age
1	Earnestine	19.2×	1,300	76
2	Bettye	13.8×	1,100	78
3	Sammie	12.6×	1,600	70
4	Percy	12.1×	1,300	68
5	Willie	11.5×	22,000	69
6	Rosie	11.5×	4,000	75
7	Roosevelt	11.1×	1,700	70
8	Bettie	11.1×	1,100	78
9	Minnie	10.9×	2,100	77
10	Tommie	10.7×	2,300	70
11	Lula	10.5×	1,400	78
12	Earnest	9.6×	1,900	66
13	Ruthie	9.5×	1,100	74
14	Bessie	9.4×	1,800	78
15	Fannie	9.2×	1,200	78

The newest Mississippi babies

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

Girls

Top girl names of 2025 in Mississippi
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Amelia	105	16
2	Ava	100	14
3	Charlotte	94	30
4	Olivia	86	18
5	Elizabeth	81	44
6	Mary	71	66
7	Emma	69	20
8	Ivy	67	17
9	Nova	65	8
10	Lainey	63	7

Boys

Top boy names of 2025 in Mississippi
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	James	160	54
2	William	155	51
3	John	151	55
4	Noah	120	16
5	Elijah	109	16
6	Waylon	106	10
7	Liam	104	11
8	Henry	93	34
9	Hudson	90	9
10	Thomas	82	53

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 Mississippi with its share of all living Americans in the national records. How we calculate this