The most common names of people born in North Dakota

Social Security has recorded about 1.1 million births in North Dakota since 1910 under names it lists. By our estimate, about 690,000 of those people are alive today, and their average age is 47. The most common names among them are Mary for women and Michael for men.

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

Women and girls born in North Dakota

Most common names of living women born in North Dakota
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Mary	5,800	70
2	Jennifer	4,200	49
3	Linda	3,700	73
4	Susan	3,400	68
5	Karen	3,300	70
6	Jessica	3,200	41
7	Elizabeth	2,900	44
8	Lisa	2,800	55
9	Patricia	2,800	72
10	Sarah	2,800	41
11	Michelle	2,700	53
12	Carol	2,600	76
13	Amanda	2,600	41
14	Sandra	2,500	71
15	Barbara	2,500	73
16	Julie	2,500	61
17	Nancy	2,400	69
18	Ashley	2,300	36
19	Melissa	2,300	48
20	Amy	2,300	49
21	Rebecca	2,300	52
22	Sharon	2,200	76
23	Nicole	2,200	43
24	Emily	2,100	30
25	Kimberly	2,000	54
26	Kathleen	2,000	71
27	Diane	1,900	72
28	Heather	1,900	45
29	Brenda	1,900	64
30	Donna	1,800	74

Men and boys born in North Dakota

Most common names of living men born in North Dakota
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Michael	9,600	52
2	David	7,900	60
3	James	7,500	58
4	Robert	6,500	63
5	John	6,300	58
6	Matthew	4,500	39
7	Daniel	4,300	51
8	Thomas	4,300	55
9	Mark	4,300	61
10	Christopher	4,300	43
11	Richard	4,100	67
12	Steven	4,100	59
13	William	4,100	51
14	Ryan	3,700	40
15	Joshua	3,600	37
16	Scott	3,600	56
17	Jason	3,600	47
18	Brian	3,400	55
19	Timothy	3,300	58
20	Joseph	3,300	44
21	Andrew	3,200	37
22	Paul	3,100	60
23	Jeffrey	3,100	59
24	Jacob	3,000	29
25	Kevin	3,000	57
26	Tyler	2,700	34
27	Gary	2,700	72
28	Justin	2,600	40
29	Donald	2,400	73
30	Eric	2,400	45

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

Names more common in North Dakota than nationally

Among living people born in North Dakota, these names make up a bigger share than they do nationwide. Duane is 6.9× as common among people born here as among all Americans.

Names more common among people born in North Dakota than nationally
#	Name	Vs. national	Alive today	Average age
1	Duane	6.9×	1,200	72
2	Kari	6.8×	980	51
3	Kristi	4.9×	880	55
4	Kent	4.8×	600	64
5	Wade	4.8×	680	55
6	Jodi	4.5×	840	55
7	Brady	4.1×	970	30
8	Dean	3.8×	1,300	63
9	Tanner	3.7×	910	30
10	Chad	3.5×	2,000	50
11	Dale	3.5×	1,500	70
12	Shelly	3.4×	660	61
13	Brent	3.4×	1,000	53
14	Marlene	3.3×	680	79
15	Easton	3.3×	670	11

The newest North Dakota babies

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

Girls

Top girl names of 2025 in North Dakota
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Charlotte	42	30
2	Lainey	39	7
3	Olivia	34	18
4	Ellie	33	12
5	Evelyn	32	34
6	Amelia	30	16
7	Ella	29	22
8	Hazel	29	27
9	Ivy	29	17
10	Emma	28	20

Boys

Top boy names of 2025 in North Dakota
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Liam	56	11
2	Henry	49	34
3	Theodore	49	29
4	Noah	48	16
5	Oliver	47	13
6	Cooper	40	13
7	Hudson	37	9
8	Bennett	34	13
9	James	33	54
10	Colter	32	11

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