Male Given Name Distribution in 1990 Census

As a follow up to yesterday's blog about surname distribution, I wanted to talk about the most popular given names in 1990 Census.

The top 10 male given names in the 1990 census are:
Surname..........%......Rank
JAMES 3.318 1
JOHN 3.271 2
ROBERT 3.143 3
MICHAEL 2.629 4
WILLIAM 2.451 5
DAVID 2.363 6
RICHARD 1.703 7
CHARLES 1.523 8
JOSEPH 1.404 9
THOMAS 1.380 10

James is the most common male first name with over 3%. I wonder if this popularity has its roots in King James of England, the person responsible for commissioning the King James Bible. It could be a result of James, the apostle, in the New Testament.

Myself and two of my 4 sons have a first name listed in the top 10. My son Stephen is the 34th most common name. My son Andrew has the 35th most common first name.

It is interesting to note that the top 10 male names make up almost 25% of all male given names. So there is a 1 in 4 chance that a male name will be in the top 10.

It is also interesting that each of these top ten names are common English names. The most common name that is not of English origin is Jose, which is the 28th most common name.