Saying about 50 words
Most children are saying about 50 words somewhere between about 16 months and 2¼ years, often around 18 months. Children learning many different languages reach this at similar ages, though some take longer.
How sure are we?
Not sure yet. Tens of thousands of parents' reports in many languages agree, but they all come from one collection of word lists, so the ages haven't yet been checked against a separate study. How we know this
What it’s a sign of
Your child is building up a set of words they can say and use to share what they want and notice.
Children vary a lot: at 18 months, some say 50 to 75 words and others none. In most of the more than 30 languages in the word lists, half of children said 50 words somewhere between 17 and 21 months; in a few it was later. The CDC lists saying about 50 words at 30 months, later than the ages above; its experts chose check-up ages using several kinds of studies and their own judgement.
All the ages come from parents ticking words on a list, which probably misses some of the words children say. We haven't yet read the studies that ask whether most children have a sudden 'word spurt'.
A main source for the ages
Words children say and understand, by age, in many languages: our count from Wordbank v3.4
MyHappyBub (analysis of Wordbank open data) · 2026
- Children
- About 134,000 toddler word lists and 50,000 baby word lists, in more than 30 languages
- Where
- Families speaking more than 30 languages; the most from the United States
- Ages
- 8 to 36 months
- How
- Our own count from parents' word lists in the open Wordbank collection
- What it found
- In American English, half of children said at least 50 words by 18 months and nearly all (95 in 100) by 27. More than 9 in 10 parents said their 8-month-old understood at least one word, and nearly all babies understood at least 10 words by 12 months.
- Limits
- Parents tick words on a list, which probably misses some words. Each month is a different group of children. Parents' reports of what young babies understand can be surprisingly high.
A main source for the ages
Variability and Consistency in Early Language Learning: The Wordbank Project
Michael C. Frank, Mika Braginsky, Daniel Yurovsky, Virginia A. Marchman · 2021 · MIT Press
- Children
- About 82,000 word lists filled in by parents
- Where
- 29 languages, mostly from Europe and the United States
- Ages
- 8 to 30 months
- How
- Researchers pooled parents' word lists from many studies (the Wordbank collection)
- What it found
- Gives "around one year" as a rule of thumb for first words, and shows that children of the same age vary a lot in how many words they say.
- Limits
- Parents can miss words or count babble as words. Most children were from Europe and the United States and learning one language.
A main source for the ages
Evidence-Informed Milestones for Developmental Surveillance Tools
Jennifer M. Zubler, Lisa D. Wiggins, Michelle M. Macias, Toni M. Whitaker, Judith S. Shaw, Jane K. Squires, Julie A. Pajek, Rebecca B. Wolf, Karnesha S. Slaughter, Amber S. Broughton, Krysta L. Gerndt, Bethany J. Mlodoch, Paul H. Lipkin · 2022 · Pediatrics
- Children
- A review of 34 studies and common checklists, not one group of children
- Where
- Studies from many countries (14 of the 24 with age data were from countries where English isn't the main language)
- Ages
- 2 months to 5 years
- How
- Experts reviewed studies and checklists, then placed each milestone at the check-up age by which about 3 in 4 children do it
- What it found
- Places calling a parent "mama" or "dada" at 12 months, and saying 1 or 2 other words at 15 months. These are ages by which about 3 in 4 children have started, rounded up to a check-up age.
- Limits
- Experts' judgement set the ages, and some milestones rest on opinion rather than measured ages. The lists haven't been tested to see whether they help.
If you’re worried about your child, talk to your child and family health nurse or GP.
Last checked 2 November 2026