The most common names of people born in Tennessee

Social Security has recorded about 7.1 million births in Tennessee since 1910 under names it lists. By our estimate, about 5.1 million of those people are alive today, and their average age is 41. The most common names among them are Mary for women and James for men.

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

Women and girls born in Tennessee

Most common names of living women born in Tennessee
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Mary	44,000	64
2	Linda	25,000	72
3	Jennifer	25,000	47
4	Elizabeth	24,000	43
5	Patricia	21,000	69
6	Jessica	21,000	38
7	Ashley	20,000	35
8	Sarah	19,000	40
9	Kimberly	19,000	50
10	Lisa	18,000	58
11	Amanda	18,000	42
12	Emily	18,000	31
13	Angela	18,000	53
14	Brenda	17,000	70
15	Barbara	17,000	74
16	Rebecca	16,000	52
17	Sandra	15,000	68
18	Melissa	14,000	51
19	Donna	14,000	66
20	Betty	14,000	78
21	Emma	14,000	24
22	Amy	14,000	48
23	Deborah	14,000	67
24	Hannah	13,000	25
25	Karen	13,000	61
26	Stephanie	13,000	46
27	Carolyn	13,000	71
28	Teresa	13,000	62
29	Pamela	12,000	63
30	Rachel	12,000	39

Men and boys born in Tennessee

Most common names of living men born in Tennessee
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	James	88,000	55
2	William	66,000	48
3	Michael	62,000	48
4	John	53,000	51
5	David	51,000	52
6	Robert	50,000	55
7	Christopher	42,000	40
8	Charles	38,000	55
9	Joshua	30,000	33
10	Thomas	27,000	50
11	Matthew	26,000	34
12	Joseph	26,000	41
13	Timothy	22,000	48
14	Daniel	22,000	38
15	Richard	21,000	57
16	Jacob	21,000	25
17	Jason	20,000	43
18	Andrew	19,000	34
19	Jonathan	19,000	36
20	Anthony	19,000	43
21	Brandon	19,000	34
22	Kenneth	18,000	56
23	Larry	17,000	65
24	Justin	17,000	34
25	Steven	17,000	49
26	Mark	17,000	54
27	Jerry	16,000	65
28	Samuel	16,000	33
29	Kevin	16,000	44
30	Brian	15,000	45

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

Names more common in Tennessee than nationally

Among living people born in Tennessee, these names make up a bigger share than they do nationwide. Wilma is 4.1× as common among people born here as among all Americans.

Names more common among people born in Tennessee than nationally
#	Name	Vs. national	Alive today	Average age
1	Wilma	4.1×	2,700	79
2	Shelia	4.1×	3,000	65
3	Billy	3.6×	13,000	64
4	Patsy	3.6×	3,900	77
5	Donnie	3.5×	2,900	63
6	Bobby	3.4×	11,000	63
7	Rickey	3.1×	2,800	61
8	Glenda	2.9×	4,100	72
9	Jimmy	2.9×	9,800	63
10	Wanda	2.9×	8,200	73
11	Ronnie	2.8×	6,800	62
12	Christy	2.8×	4,700	50
13	Misty	2.7×	4,100	47
14	Waylon	2.7×	2,700	8
15	Tommy	2.7×	5,600	61

The newest Tennessee babies

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

Girls

Top girl names of 2025 in Tennessee
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Charlotte	423	30
2	Amelia	342	16
3	Olivia	276	18
4	Emma	270	20
5	Sophia	244	16
6	Eleanor	242	30
7	Evelyn	242	34
8	Harper	220	9
9	Elizabeth	218	44
10	Willow	197	10

Boys

Top boy names of 2025 in Tennessee
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Noah	444	16
2	Liam	425	11
3	Oliver	411	13
4	James	385	54
5	Henry	376	34
6	William	374	51
7	Hudson	323	9
8	Theodore	323	29
9	Waylon	299	10
10	John	297	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 Tennessee with its share of all living Americans in the national records. How we calculate this