The most common names of people born in West Virginia

Social Security has recorded about 3.1 million births in West Virginia since 1910 under names it lists. By our estimate, about 1.8 million of those people are alive today, and their average age is 51. The most common names among them are Mary for women and James for men.

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

Women and girls born in West Virginia

Most common names of living women born in West Virginia
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	Mary	20,000	71
2	Linda	14,000	74
3	Patricia	12,000	72
4	Barbara	10,000	74
5	Jennifer	9,800	49
6	Brenda	9,000	71
7	Rebecca	8,600	58
8	Elizabeth	8,600	53
9	Sandra	8,300	72
10	Donna	8,200	70
11	Kimberly	8,100	55
12	Lisa	8,100	57
13	Jessica	7,900	40
14	Karen	7,600	69
15	Melissa	7,600	52
16	Sharon	7,500	72
17	Amanda	7,400	43
18	Sarah	7,300	44
19	Deborah	7,200	69
20	Nancy	7,100	75
21	Betty	7,100	80
22	Angela	6,500	53
23	Susan	6,500	66
24	Pamela	6,400	66
25	Ashley	6,200	37
26	Amy	6,000	50
27	Carolyn	6,000	75
28	Debra	6,000	67
29	Emily	5,500	31
30	Tammy	5,500	59

Men and boys born in West Virginia

Most common names of living men born in West Virginia
#	Name	Alive today	Average age
1	James	35,000	60
2	Michael	27,000	53
3	David	26,000	59
4	John	26,000	60
5	Robert	25,000	62
6	William	24,000	59
7	Charles	18,000	62
8	Christopher	14,000	42
9	Richard	14,000	63
10	Joseph	12,000	50
11	Thomas	12,000	59
12	Matthew	11,000	39
13	Joshua	11,000	36
14	Timothy	10,000	53
15	Mark	9,700	58
16	Larry	9,100	69
17	Gary	8,800	66
18	Jason	8,600	44
19	Donald	8,500	67
20	Daniel	8,500	49
21	Steven	8,400	54
22	Brian	8,100	50
23	Ronald	7,900	66
24	Kenneth	7,600	61
25	Jeffrey	7,500	55
26	Paul	7,400	63
27	Roger	7,100	67
28	Jacob	6,700	27
29	Andrew	6,600	38
30	Kevin	6,300	51

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

Names more common in West Virginia than nationally

Among living people born in West Virginia, these names make up a bigger share than they do nationwide. Wilma is 5.3× as common among people born here as among all Americans.

Names more common among people born in West Virginia than nationally
#	Name	Vs. national	Alive today	Average age
1	Wilma	5.3×	1,300	79
2	Patty	4.9×	1,400	75
3	Roger	4.2×	7,100	67
4	Lora	4.1×	950	59
5	Thelma	3.8×	980	80
6	Shelia	3.8×	1,000	68
7	Cecil	3.5×	800	71
8	Franklin	3.5×	1,700	64
9	Betty	3.4×	7,100	80
10	Connie	3.3×	4,300	70
11	Misty	3.2×	1,800	48
12	Loretta	3.2×	1,800	72
13	Phyllis	3.2×	2,800	79
14	Delores	3.1×	1,100	79
15	Billie	3.1×	1,200	66

The newest West Virginia babies

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

Girls

Top girl names of 2025 in West Virginia
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Charlotte	84	30
2	Amelia	82	16
3	Lainey	68	7
4	Harper	62	9
5	Willow	61	10
6	Sophia	54	16
7	Violet	54	18
8	Oaklynn	53	4
9	Paisley	53	9
10	Ava	52	14

Boys

Top boy names of 2025 in West Virginia
#	Name	Born 2025	Avg. age, US
1	Waylon	115	10
2	Hudson	106	9
3	Oliver	96	13
4	Noah	85	16
5	Wyatt	70	15
6	Cooper	68	13
7	Asher	67	9
8	Weston	63	14
9	Liam	60	11
10	Theodore	60	29

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