The most common names of people born in North Carolina

Social Security has recorded about 9.6 million births in North Carolina since 1910 under names it lists. By our estimate, about 6.8 million of those people are alive today, and their average age is 40. The most common names among them are Mary for women and James for men.

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

Women and girls born in North Carolina

Most common names of living women born in North Carolina
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Mary	55,000	65
2	Elizabeth	34,000	44
3	Jennifer	32,000	46
4	Linda	31,000	72
5	Ashley	27,000	35
6	Sarah	27,000	41
7	Jessica	26,000	37
8	Patricia	25,000	69
9	Kimberly	24,000	48
10	Angela	23,000	53
11	Emily	23,000	30
12	Barbara	22,000	73
13	Brenda	22,000	70
14	Lisa	21,000	57
15	Amanda	20,000	42
16	Sandra	19,000	67
17	Emma	18,000	24
18	Rebecca	18,000	52
19	Susan	18,000	63
20	Deborah	18,000	66
21	Betty	18,000	77
22	Donna	18,000	64
23	Cynthia	18,000	61
24	Melissa	17,000	47
25	Amy	17,000	48
26	Hannah	16,000	26
27	Stephanie	16,000	44
28	Carolyn	16,000	70
29	Karen	16,000	59
30	Teresa	16,000	62

Men and boys born in North Carolina

Most common names of living men born in North Carolina
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	James	100,000	55
2	William	87,000	49
3	Michael	81,000	47
4	John	66,000	52
5	David	65,000	51
6	Robert	62,000	55
7	Christopher	58,000	39
8	Charles	44,000	55
9	Joshua	39,000	31
10	Joseph	38,000	44
11	Matthew	35,000	34
12	Thomas	35,000	50
13	Daniel	31,000	37
14	Richard	28,000	56
15	Timothy	28,000	48
16	Jonathan	27,000	35
17	Anthony	26,000	41
18	Jacob	25,000	24
19	Brandon	25,000	33
20	Kenneth	24,000	56
21	Andrew	24,000	33
22	Jason	22,000	40
23	Justin	22,000	33
24	Samuel	21,000	35
25	Kevin	21,000	41
26	Larry	21,000	65
27	Brian	20,000	44
28	Steven	20,000	48
29	Benjamin	20,000	30
30	Jeffrey	20,000	52

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

Names more common in North Carolina than nationally

Among living people born in North Carolina, these names make up a bigger share than they do nationwide. Donnie is 3.5× as common among people born here as among all Americans.

Names more common among people born in North Carolina than nationally
#	Name	Vs. national	Alive today	Average age
1	Donnie	3.5×	3,800	63
2	Shelia	3.4×	3,300	65
3	Bobby	3.2×	14,000	63
4	Annie	3.1×	8,400	69
5	Clifton	3.0×	2,800	58
6	Wanda	2.8×	11,000	69
7	Lillie	2.7×	2,700	61
8	Ronnie	2.7×	8,800	62
9	Patsy	2.5×	3,700	76
10	Bryson	2.5×	5,200	15
11	Johnnie	2.5×	3,600	68
12	Edna	2.5×	3,100	77
13	Reginald	2.4×	5,100	53
14	Meredith	2.4×	4,400	36
15	Doris	2.4×	7,300	77

The newest North Carolina babies

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

Girls

Top girl names of 2025 in North Carolina
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Amelia	459	16
2	Charlotte	453	30
3	Olivia	441	18
4	Sophia	396	16
5	Emma	391	20
6	Isabella	342	15
7	Mia	325	15
8	Eliana	321	10
9	Evelyn	317	34
10	Eleanor	315	30

Boys

Top boy names of 2025 in North Carolina
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Noah	684	16
2	Liam	680	11
3	Oliver	507	13
4	William	500	51
5	James	471	54
6	Henry	450	34
7	Elijah	426	16
8	Theodore	425	29
9	Levi	376	16
10	John	360	55

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