N for boys, A for girls: the letters baby names end with

In 2008, 340 of the 1,000 most popular boys' names in America ended in N. More than one American boy in three had one. Ethan, Jayden, Aiden, Ryan and Logan led the way, and the biggest of them, Ethan, was only 3.2% of the N boys.

In 1880 the N boys were 15% of all boys, and 57% of them were called John. The letter was the same. The names behind it were not.

N has been the commonest last letter for American boys every year since 1963. For girls it has been A since 1937. In England and Wales the girls agree, even more strongly. The boys do not. The first boys' name in the 2025 list to end in N is 27th.

How we counted

The same way as our article on the letters names start with, at the other end of the name. We took the last letter of every name, added up the babies, and worked out each letter's share of all the boys or all the girls born that year. The letter is the one on the birth record, so Aiden and Aidan both count as N.

For 1880 to 2008 we use the American top 1,000 names for each year, so the shares are of babies with a top-1,000 name. For 1990 to 2017 we also hold the full files, which list every name given to five or more babies, and they tell the same story. Boys and girls are counted from the official files, not from our own label on the name. For England and Wales we use the full 2025 file from the ONS.

Five letters, then one

The lead changed hands six times between 1880 and 1963. S led to 1886, on James, Charles and Thomas. N and E took turns until 1922, E on George, Willie and Clarence. D led for 30 years, 1923 to 1952, on Richard, David, Donald and Ronald. Then Y had ten years, on Timothy, Gary, Jeffrey and Larry.

N took the lead in 1963, by 16.0% to 15.8%, and has not lost it in any year since. Its low point was 1942, at 13.0% of boys. By 1980 it was 24.5%, on Jason, Brian, Justin and Ryan. By 2008 it was 36.4%. Every other letter that had led ended that year below 7%.

What changed is how many names it took. In 1960 the top 1,000 had 193 boys' names ending in N. In 1990 it had 250, and in 2008, 340. In 1950 John alone was a third of the N boys, and Steven and Stephen were another 18%. By 2008 the biggest, Ethan, was 3.2%.

The 2017 full file, our most recent American count, still has N first, with 33.8% of boys: 620,164 of them. Logan 13,974, Benjamin 13,733, Mason 13,502, Ethan 12,389, Aiden 11,259, Jackson 10,356 and Sebastian 10,136. Look at the last three letters and four endings make up 42% of them: -son, -den, -ian and -ton. In 1990 the biggest was -tin, as in Justin and Austin.

Girls: A since 1937

The girls' story is steadier. E led from 1880 to 1936, on Minnie, Alice, Annie and Florence, though by 1936 its lead was less than a tenth of a point. A has been in front in every year since. A has never been below 24.2% of girls (1923) and never above 40.0% (2006).

The names behind the A turned over just as the boys' did. In 1940 they were led by Barbara, Patricia and Linda. In 2008 it was Emma, Isabella, Ava, Olivia and Sophia, each about 3% of the A girls. In 2017, 37.9% of American girls had a name ending in A.

The girls have taken up N as well. It was 3.3% of girls in 1880 and 14.5% in 2008. In 2017 the biggest were Evelyn 10,675, Madison 7,847 and Lillian 6,132.

Britain's boys end in E and Y

In England and Wales in 2025, 18.7% of boys had a name ending in N. That is 51,255 boys, and a little over half the American share. N is still the commonest ending here, but you would not guess it from the top of the list. None of the top 26 boys' names ends in N. The first is Roman, 27th with 1,420, then Reuben 29th and Rowan 30th.

The top of the British list leans on other letters. E is 13.2% of boys here, twice the American 6.6%: George, Theodore, Freddie and Archie. Y is 10.4%, against 5.0%: Henry, Rory and Harry. O is 6.6%, on Leo, Theo and Arlo.

The girls go the other way. A is 43.2% of girls in England and Wales, more than in America: Amelia, Isla, Freya and Olivia among them, and 46 of the top 100. N is only 5.0% of girls here, against 12.3% in America. The 2024 file says the same: boys N 18.7%, girls A 43.4%.

Is N slipping in America?

The full files say it may have peaked. N was 36.3% of American boys in 2010 and 33.8% in 2017. Our counts stop there, but the rankings run to 2025. They count names, not babies, and they all point the same way.

In 2015 Mason was third, Ethan sixth and Benjamin tenth. In 2025 Mason is 39th, Ethan 24th and Benjamin 11th, and the top ten has no N names at all. Sixteen N names left the top 100 in those ten years, among them Landon, Brayden, Carson and Kayden. Five came in: Roman, Rowan, Waylon, Weston and Eithan. Aiden went from 13th to 62nd, Jayden from 20th to 70th and Logan from 14th to 53rd. A few went the other way. Hudson climbed from 65th to 17th and Sebastian from 35th to 16th.

A count of names is not a count of babies, so this does not prove the N share has fallen. It says the biggest N names are not as big as they were. The girls' A has not moved the same way. Six of the 2015 top ten girls' names ended in A, and eight of the 2025 top ten do.

What it means for you

If you are in England and Wales, a boy's name ending in N is the most common choice by letter, but it shares that letter with fewer than one boy in five. In America it was one in three in 2017. For a girl, an A ending is the most common choice in both countries, and more so here: 43% of girls in England and Wales had one in 2025.