America’s most common passwords of 2021 are very, very dumb

As a species, generating a strong password might not be our strong suit. Password manager NordPass released its annual list of the 200 most common passwords, and the results don't inspire much confidence. In partnership with cybersecurity researchers, NordPass evaluated four terabytes of data across 50 countries. The list was compiled based on how many times a password was used and how long it would take to be hacked.

In the U.S., with the exception of "qwerty," the 10 most common passwords are mostly a variation of the numbers one through 10, or, simply, "password." Perhaps this explains why our country is in the highest tier of passwords leaked per capita, according to NordPass's research.

But don't feel too bad. The UK's top 10 list isn't much better. The only major difference is the inclusion of its beloved soccer teams. The password "liverpool" ranked at number three and "arsenal" number 10. Does it mean Liverpool has more diehard fans or that Arsenal is more password-savvy? Either way, this news will somehow piss off fans.

Globally, internet users captured both ends of the emotional spectrum: "iloveyou" came in at 22 and "fuckyou" at 56 on the list. Some other highlights included "myspace1," "pokemon," and "princess." Let this be a lesson to us all that we share more in common than we think. And that maybe it's time to get a stronger password.

You can check out the full list here.

Top 10 most common passwords in the U.S.

1. "123456" counted 3,572,081 times

2. "password" counted 1,730,765 times

3. "12345" counted 958,799 times

4. "123456789" counted 873,522 times

5. "password1" counted 666,746 times

6. "abc123" counted 610,867 times

7. "12345678" counted 440,687 times

8. "qwerty" counted 382,302 times

9. "111111" counted 369,258 times

10. "1234567" counted 356,163 times