The year was 2014. Hamilton hadn't opened yet (that was 2015). Instagram had 300 million users. About 3.99 million babies were born in the United States — and many of them got names that are still dominant today. The 2014 top 15 is the most stable decade-flashback list in the entire dataset: not only are most of these names still in use, several of them have risen in the past ten years.
Here's what the SSA data shows for 2014, with 2024 comparison.
Top 15 Boy Names, 2014
| Rank | Name | 2014 babies | 2024 rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noah | 19,338 | #2 | Dropped one spot — still on top |
| 2 | Liam | 18,484 | #1 | Moved from #2 to #1 |
| 3 | Mason | 17,221 | #42 | Biggest drop from the top 5 |
| 4 | Jacob | 16,916 | #41 | Slowly fading from its 1999–2012 peak |
| 5 | William | 16,847 | #10 | Climbing — the vintage revival continues |
| 6 | Ethan | 15,748 | #19 | Holding solidly |
| 7 | Michael | 15,496 | #18 | Still in the top 20 after sixty years |
| 8 | Alexander | 15,444 | #27 | Steady |
| 9 | James | 14,462 | #5 | Climbed from #9 to #5 — vintage revival |
| 10 | Daniel | 13,956 | #16 | Steady |
| 11 | Elijah | 13,881 | #8 | Climbed from #11 to #8 — still ascending |
| 12 | Benjamin | 13,827 | #11 | Steady — vintage name maintaining position |
| 13 | Logan | 13,668 | #46 | Declining — the Logan wave crested around 2017 |
| 14 | Aiden | 13,436 | #47 | The Aiden/Jayden/Brayden cluster fading |
| 15 | Jayden | 12,993 | #59 | Most pronounced drop from 2014 top 15 |
Top 15 Girl Names, 2014
| Rank | Name | 2014 babies | 2024 rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emma | 20,962 | #2 | Was #1 from 2008 to 2018; now #2 |
| 2 | Olivia | 19,836 | #1 | Climbed from #2 to #1 — now the defining name of the era |
| 3 | Sophia | 18,642 | #6 | Was #1 from 2011 to 2013; still top 10 |
| 4 | Isabella | 17,133 | #7 | Was #1 from 2009 to 2010; still top 10 |
| 5 | Ava | 15,725 | #9 | Barely moved |
| 6 | Mia | 13,533 | #5 | Moved up from #6 to #5 |
| 7 | Emily | 12,667 | #25 | Declining from 1996–2007 peak |
| 8 | Abigail | 12,113 | #32 | Slowly declining |
| 9 | Madison | 10,331 | #46 | Was top 3 in 2004; dropping steadily |
| 10 | Charlotte | 10,120 | #4 | Biggest climber on the list: #10 → #4 |
| 11 | Harper | 9,616 | #12 | Essentially unchanged |
| 12 | Sofia | 9,611 | #10 | Moved up one spot |
| 13 | Elizabeth | 9,597 | #17 | The most resilient name in the data |
| 14 | Avery | 9,578 | #31 | Declining from 2014 peak |
| 15 | Amelia | 8,804 | #3 | Most dramatic climb: #15 → #3 |
What stands out
The 2014 top 5 is still the 2024 top 5 — almost exactly. Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella, Ava were the top 5 girls' names in 2014. In 2024 the top 5 is Olivia, Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Mia. Three of the five original names are still in the top 10; two are still top 2. This is the most stable decade-on-decade comparison in the entire dataset. The 1984 top 5 (Jennifer, Jessica, Ashley, Amanda, Sarah) doesn't look remotely like the 1994 or 2004 charts. The 2014 top 5 is still the 2024 chart with minor repositioning.
Amelia is the story of the decade. Amelia was #15 in 2014 with 8,804 babies. It's #3 in 2024 with about 13,000. It has climbed every single year since 2014. This is the same arc as Olivia and Charlotte — a name that was popular but not dominant in the early 2010s and has since compounded into one of the defining names of the era. The common thread: Victorian-Edwardian names with strong literary or historical associations that work in European languages.
Charlotte's rise is just as remarkable. Charlotte was #10 in 2014. It's #4 in 2024. Royal associations help (Princess Charlotte of Wales was born in 2015, the year after the 2014 data was collected), but the trajectory was already pointing up. Charlotte follows the same pattern as Amelia: long, formal, historically European, strong at every life stage.
Olivia crossed Emma. Emma was #1 in 2014 with 20,962 babies; Olivia was #2 with 19,836. In 2024 they've swapped: Olivia is #1, Emma is #2. The gap between them is now wider than it was in 2014 — Olivia has been pulling ahead since 2019. Emma's trajectory is still remarkable (it peaked in 2008, held #1 for a decade, and is still #2 fifteen years later), but Olivia is the dominant name of the late 2010s and 2020s.
Liam crossed Noah. Same story, boys' side. Noah was #1 in 2014, Liam was #2. They've swapped. Liam has been #1 since 2017. The gap between them is wider than it looks: Liam had 22,164 babies in 2024 vs. Noah's 20,337 — a margin that's grown steadily each year.
The Aiden/Jayden cluster is fading. Aiden (#14 in 2014) is now #47. Jayden (#15 in 2014) is now #59. Logan (#13 in 2014) is now #46. These are the -ayden and surname-style names that peaked in the 2000s and 2010s. They're not gone — top 60 is still mainstream — but the trajectory is downward. Mason (#3 in 2014, now #42) belongs in the same category: a modern constructed-feeling name at the peak of its cycle.
The boys' biblical core is holding or rising. James was #9 in 2014 and is #5 in 2024. Elijah was #11 and is #8. Benjamin, Daniel, William — all holding. The pattern from 1984 and 1994 has continued: biblical and classical names age better than contemporary-feeling names. Mason and Logan are the test cases for the 2020s trend-names; the evidence so far suggests the same dynamic.
Emily's long fade continues. Emily was #1 from 1996 to 2007 — twelve consecutive years. In 2014 it was still top 10 at #7. Now it's #25. This is slower than Jennifer's fall (Jennifer went from #1 to #547 in forty years), but the pattern is the same. #25 is still mainstream; the question is whether Emily stabilizes at the mid-chart position that Sarah (#95) and Elizabeth (#17) occupy, or whether it continues lower.
See the full rankings for 2014 or explore names like Olivia, Amelia, Charlotte, and Liam in depth.
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration 2014 and 2024 releases.