Use our Name Rarity Checker to discover exactly how unique your name is in America. Our name rarity test searches 100+ years of Social Security Administration birth records to give you an instant rarity score, 1-in-X probability, and full breakdown. Check name rarity for any first name or last name, no sign-up needed.
Enter any first name or last name below to get your name rarity score, gender breakdown, state-by-state data, historical trends, and name meaning.
Type any first name or last name to run a name rarity test and see exactly how common or rare it is across the United States.
Running name rarity check…
Normalized logarithmic scale (0–100)
Predicted Gender
Instantly check how rare or common any first name is using 100+ years of SSA birth records.
Get a rarity tier from Very Common to Very Rare, plus a percentile vs all names in our database.
See your exact 1-in-X probability: how many Americans share your name out of 330 million.
Which US states have the most and fewest people with your name.
Run a full name rarity test with decade-by-decade trend charts and peak popularity year.
Origin, spiritual significance, lucky attributes, and personality traits for your name.
Have you ever wondered how many people in the United States share your exact name? Our Name Rarity Checker answers that question instantly. Whether you want to run a quick name rarity test, use it as a name rarity calculator, or simply find out the rarity of your name, enter any first name or last name above and get your complete analysis in seconds, powered by over 100 years of Social Security Administration birth registration data.
Using our name rarity checker takes just three steps: type any first name or last name into the search box, click Check Rarity, and your full name rarity test results appear immediately. No account, no subscription, and no sign-up required. You can check name rarity for as many names as you like, try your own name, your children's names, or any name you're curious about.
When you check name rarity with our tool, the name rarity calculator returns a rarity tier based on how many Americans share that name. The score is derived by dividing total recorded bearers against the US population of approximately 330 million, then mapped to one of five tiers:
| Rarity Tier | 1 in X People | Approx. US Count | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⭐ Very Common | 1 in 100 or fewer | 3.3 million+ | James, Mary, John |
| 🔵 Common | 1 in 101 – 10,000 | 33,000 – 3.3M | Emma, Liam, Sofia |
| 🟢 Uncommon | 1 in 10,001 – 100,000 | 3,300 – 33,000 | Maren, Arlo, Cleo |
| 🟡 Rare | 1 in 100,001 – 1,000,000 | 330 – 3,300 | Waverly, Caspian |
| 🔴 Very Rare | More than 1 in 1,000,000 | Fewer than 330 | Coined / unique names |
Our name rarity test goes far beyond a simple count. For every name you check, your results include: a rarity tier and 1-in-X probability, a rarity percentile showing how your name compares to all tracked names, decade-by-decade usage charts, state-by-state distribution across all 50 US states, gender breakdown with male/female split, peak popularity year, trend direction (rising, stable, or declining), name meaning and origin, and a list of famous people who share the name.
The name rarity calculator sums all recorded births under a name across every year and gender in the SSA database, then divides by the current estimated US population of approximately 330 million. The result is a probability. For example, if 3.3 million Americans are named James, the probability is roughly 1 in 100. That probability determines the rarity tier. The rarity percentile is calculated separately by ranking your name against every other name in the database, so you can see how unique your name is relative to the full landscape of American names.
Names that were extremely common in the 1950s (like Linda or Gary) may feel rare today because fewer babies receive those names now. Conversely, brand-new names appear very rare simply because they haven't had decades of recorded births. Our percentile score accounts for this by comparing your name to all currently tracked names. The trend chart in your name rarity test results shows whether your name is currently rising, stable, or declining in popularity.
Our name rarity checker works for both first names and last names. Simply enter any first name or last name into the search box and the tool will return the full rarity analysis, including rarity tier, 1-in-X probability, gender breakdown, state distribution, and decade trends. For a combined full name estimate, check your first name and last name separately and multiply the two probabilities together.
After running your name rarity test, click Share Results or any social share button. The page URL automatically updates to include your name (e.g. /how-rare-is-my-name/?n=Emma), so anyone with the link sees the same name rarity checker results instantly.