We Never Learn: One of Your Passwords Is Probably ‘Password’

A street magician comes up to you and says, “I am going to guess your password.” They give you a piercing look that reaches the part of your soul that created that code. “Is it ‘password’?” They are likely correct.

NordPass is ending the year by calling us all out with its Top 200 Most Common Passwords(Opens in a new window) list. It compiled the list with cybersecurity researchers by evaluating databases. They then divided the list by country and gender for some additional insights. 

The most common password overall was “password,” followed by “123456,” “123456789,” “guest,” and “qwerty”. All of these, except “guest,” take less than a second to crack. Anyone logging in with “guest” gets an extra 17 seconds before they’re hacked. 

“Guest” also happens to be the top password among women in the US—men go with “12345” first. There are not many differences between passwords for men and women in the top 10, though, with most people choosing a string of sequential numbers and variations on the word password. The exceptions are “sunshine,” which is number 7, and “princess” at number 10 for women. 

While they may speak the same language in the UK, it’s a different world when it comes to their passwords and soccer—excuse us, football. “Liverpool” is fourth on the general list, and when you split the list by gender, men have “liverpool” at number 5, “arsenal” at number 8, and “chelsea” at number 10. Women in the United Kingdom have made some baffling password choices, at least to this American woman, who is left wondering if “charlie,” which is number 3, relates to Prince Charles; whether “tigger” at number 4 is because of the Hundred Acre Forest inhabitant; why “chocolate” is number 8; what has made “monkey” king of all other animals at number 9; and what in the world “softgunmurah,” is, at number 10. 

Some things unite the world, though. Like finding password inspiration in sports, food, movies, swear words, fashion brands, video games, and cars. NordPass found that top movies and TV shows of the year were top of mind. “Batman” was used 2,562,776 times, “euphoria” 53,993, and “encanto” 10,808 times. 

So while we don’t talk about Bruno, we should talk about choosing a better password. You can either use a trick to remember a strong password or get a password manager.

4 easy things you can do to be more secure online — Clarification Please