The most common names of people born in South Dakota

Social Security has recorded about 1.1 million births in South Dakota since 1910 under names it lists. By our estimate, about 710,000 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 South Dakota, wherever they live now. Social Security records state of birth, not where people live, so people who moved to South Dakota from elsewhere aren't counted here, and people born here who moved away are.

Women and girls born in South Dakota

Most common names of living women born in South Dakota
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Mary	6,500	69
2	Jennifer	4,200	48
3	Linda	4,100	73
4	Susan	3,400	67
5	Patricia	3,100	72
6	Elizabeth	3,100	42
7	Barbara	3,100	73
8	Lisa	3,100	56
9	Karen	3,100	70
10	Jessica	3,000	40
11	Julie	2,800	61
12	Sarah	2,800	41
13	Carol	2,700	75
14	Nancy	2,600	70
15	Sandra	2,600	70
16	Michelle	2,500	52
17	Amy	2,500	49
18	Amanda	2,400	40
19	Rebecca	2,400	49
20	Debra	2,400	68
21	Ashley	2,300	35
22	Donna	2,300	74
23	Emily	2,300	30
24	Sharon	2,200	75
25	Lori	2,100	61
26	Melissa	2,100	46
27	Pamela	2,000	67
28	Kimberly	2,000	52
29	Angela	2,000	49
30	Laura	1,900	52

Men and boys born in South Dakota

Most common names of living men born in South Dakota
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Michael	10,000	53
2	David	8,200	59
3	James	7,900	59
4	Robert	7,000	63
5	John	6,700	58
6	William	4,900	52
7	Daniel	4,900	50
8	Thomas	4,700	55
9	Richard	4,600	66
10	Matthew	4,500	39
11	Steven	4,400	60
12	Mark	4,400	60
13	Christopher	4,200	42
14	Joseph	3,600	44
15	Jason	3,600	46
16	Joshua	3,500	37
17	Scott	3,500	57
18	Brian	3,400	54
19	Ryan	3,300	40
20	Timothy	3,200	56
21	Andrew	3,100	36
22	Jacob	3,000	28
23	Kevin	3,000	57
24	Jeffrey	3,000	58
25	Charles	2,900	55
26	Tyler	2,800	33
27	Paul	2,800	59
28	Gary	2,700	71
29	Justin	2,700	40
30	Donald	2,600	71

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

Names more common in South Dakota than nationally

Among living people born in South Dakota, these names make up a bigger share than they do nationwide. Lyle is 7.8× as common among people born here as among all Americans.

Names more common among people born in South Dakota than nationally
#	Name	Vs. national	Alive today	Average age
1	Lyle	7.8×	510	73
2	Darla	5.4×	510	67
3	Duane	5.2×	900	70
4	Kristi	4.8×	890	56
5	Kari	4.3×	640	50
6	Lane	4.2×	530	19
7	Wade	4.1×	610	50
8	Kay	3.9×	610	74
9	Tanner	3.8×	970	28
10	Jodi	3.4×	660	54
11	Todd	3.4×	2,100	59
12	Dale	3.4×	1,500	69
13	Chad	3.4×	1,900	51
14	Lance	3.1×	740	47
15	Becky	2.9×	550	60

The newest South Dakota babies

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

Girls

Top girl names of 2025 in South Dakota
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Lainey	50	7
2	Charlotte	44	30
3	Evelyn	39	34
4	Emma	36	20
5	Olivia	36	18
6	Eleanor	32	30
7	Ellie	31	12
8	Harper	31	9
9	Nora	31	25
10	Amelia	30	16

Boys

Top boy names of 2025 in South Dakota
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Oliver	66	13
2	Liam	60	11
3	Henry	50	34
4	Hudson	50	9
5	Noah	50	16
6	Theodore	47	29
7	Beau	42	16
8	William	41	51
9	Leo	40	24
10	Maverick	38	7

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