According to Jim

In The 1990 Census, The First Name James Was Number One In Frequency Of Use

First ten entries in dist.male.first
name freq cum.freq rank
JAMES          3.318  3.318     1
JOHN           3.271  6.589      2
ROBERT         3.143  9.732      3
MICHAEL        2.629 12.361      4
WILLIAM        2.451 14.812      5
DAVID          2.363 17.176      6
RICHARD        1.703 18.878      7
CHARLES        1.523 20.401      8
JOSEPH         1.404 21.805      9
THOMAS         1.380 23.185     10

Each of the three files, (dist.all.last), (dist. male.first), and (dist female.first) contain four items of data. The four items are:

1. A “Name”
2. Frequency in percent
3. Cumulative Frequency in percent
4. Rank

In the file (dist.male.first) one entry appears at the top as:

        JAMES       3.318       3.318       1

In our Search Area sample, JAMES ranks 1ST in terms of frequency. 3.318 percent of the sample population is covered by JAMES and 0 names occurring more frequently than JAMES. The male first name, JAMES, is possessed by 3.318 percent of our population sample.

1990 US Census

We will have to wait for the 2000 Census data to find out where names rank. For the entire list of first names for girls, boys, and surnames visit the census link above.

Signed James
President
Professional Web Services, Inc.

Professional Internet marketing services will get your business website discovered online in the search engine results pages. Contact us for an online marketing consultation now.