Most Popular First Name – Yearly Leaders 1871-2013

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We seem to have a lot of Brandons in baseball nowadays. The Giants had three-quarters of an all-Brandon starting infield earlier this year. However, Brandon is not the most popular first name in baseball today. We’re going to list the yearly leaders for most common first name, from 1871-2013, with a big assist from the Lahman Baseball Database.

Year Name(s) Count
1871 Charlie, Ed, Joe, Tom 5
1872 Jim 8
1873 Joe, John 7
1874 Joe, John 6
1875 John 13
1876 John 8
1877 John 8
1878 John 8
1879 John 12
1880 John 12
1881 John 13
1882 John 25
1883 Bill 23
1884 John 44
1885 John 23
1886 Jim 23
1887 John 23
1888 John 22
1889 John 25
1890 John 33
1891 John 25
1892 Bill 19
1893 Bill 21
1894 Bill 19
1895 Bill 24
1896 Bill 21
1897 Bill 21
1898 Bill 25
1899 Bill 24
1900 Bill 18
1901 Bill 25
1902 Jack 25
1903 Jack 28
1904 Jack 25
1905 Jack 19
1906 Jack 22
1907 Bill 23
1908 Bill 25
1909 Bill 29
1910 Bill 29
1911 Bill 28
1912 Bill 31
1913 Bill 30
1914 George 31
1915 George 30
1916 George 25
1917 Bill 22
1918 George 21
1919 Bill 22
1920 Bill 23
1921 Bill, George 19
1922 Frank, Joe 19
1923 Bill 22
1924 Joe 23
1925 Bill 20
1926 Bill 21
1927 Bill 19
1928 Bill 22
1929 Bill 22
1930 Bill 21
1931 Bill 21
1932 Bill 19
1933 Joe, Bill 17
1934 Bill 20
1935 Bill 22
1936 Bill 25
1937 Bill 25
1938 Bill 23
1939 Johnny, Bill 27
1940 Bill 27
1941 Johnny 31
1942 Johnny 34
1943 Johnny 35
1944 Johnny 35
1945 Johnny 35
1946 Johnny 30
1947 Johnny 23
1948 Johnny 21
1949 Bob 23
1950 Bob 26
1951 Bob 34
1952 Bob 30
1953 Bob 36
1954 Bob 35
1955 Bob 43
1956 Bob 40
1957 Bob 39
1958 Bob 42
1959 Bob 39
1960 Jim 34
1961 Jim 36
1962 Bob 41
1963 Bob 38
1964 Bob 32
1965 Jim 37
1966 Jim 39
1967 Jim 40
1968 Jim 38
1969 Jim 42
1970 Jim 50
1971 Jim 50
1972 Jim 47
1973 Jim 47
1974 Jim 47
1975 Jim 42
1976 Mike 38
1977 Mike 45
1978 Mike 43
1979 Mike 40
1980 Mike 45
1981 Mike 45
1982 Mike 43
1983 Mike 51
1984 Mike 50
1985 Mike 48
1986 Mike 50
1987 Mike 54
1988 Mike 52
1989 Mike 58
1990 Mike 56
1991 Mike 58
1992 Mike 57
1993 Mike 57
1994 Mike 54
1995 Mike 62
1996 Mike 60
1997 Mike 55
1998 Mike 61
1999 Mike 59
2000 Mike 53
2001 Mike 51
2002 Mike 48
2003 Mike 44
2004 Mike 43
2005 Mike 43
2006 Mike 44
2007 Mike 36
2008 Chris 35
2009 Chris 36
2010 Chris 34
2011 Chris 35
2012 Chris 34
2013 Chris 37

2 thoughts on “Most Popular First Name – Yearly Leaders 1871-2013”

  1. I am happy to see Jim was so popular in the 60s. I started following baseball in earnest after reading the sports page the day after Mantle hit his 500th home run in 1967. It is a passion ever since!

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Most of a Given Name on a Team | Value Over Replacement Grit

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