Sql select most repeated value

In this video we will discuss one of the common SQL interview questions. Write a SQL query to select the most repeated column value. If you understand GROUP BY in SQL, this query is very easy to write. After you answer this question, the interviewer may ask the following related question as well to check your understanding of GROUP BY and HAVING.

Write a SQL query to find a value that is repeated n number of times i.e may be 5 times, 10 times, 1 million times etc.

The key to answer these questions is understanding GROUP BY and HAVING in SQL. If you are new to these 2 concepts, please click here to learn about SQL Group By and Having

CREATE TABLE Students
(	
    Name NVARCHAR(50)
)
GO

INSERT INTO Students VALUES ('Sara')
INSERT INTO Students VALUES ('Tom')
INSERT INTO Students VALUES ('Mike')
INSERT INTO Students VALUES ('Tom')
GO

SQL query to select the most repeated column value

SELECT		TOP 1 Name
FROM		Students
GROUP BY	Name
ORDER BY	Name DESC

SQL query to find a value that is repeated n number of times

n could be any value, 2 times, 5 times, 10 times, 1 million times etc.

Please note : To filter SQL groups we use HAVING not WHERE

SELECT		TOP 1 Name
FROM		Students
GROUP BY	Name
WHERE		COUNT(Name) = 2