The Most Popular Baby Names Throughout the 20th Century
Depending on where you lived and when you grew up, it’s possible you might have known more than one person with the same name. Maybe there was a Jennifer A. and a Jennifer L., or maybe you knew four different people named Michael. Year after year, decade after decade, there are trends in baby names that draw on history, religion, and cultural references. Here are the most popular baby names in the United States during each decade of the 20th century.
1900s
Between 1900 and 1909, the most popular name for boys in the U.S. was John, and the most popular girls’ name, by a long shot, was Mary. This is according to data from the U.S. Social Security Administration, based on people applying for Social Security cards. There were 84,591 applications under the name John, and 161,504 entries for Mary. These two names popped up time and time again throughout the 20th century. Both names come from the Bible — John is one of Jesus’ disciples, and Mary is the name of both Jesus’ mother and Mary Magdalene. After John, the most popular boys’ names of this decade were William, James, George, and Charles, and the most popular girls’ names after Mary were Helen, Margaret, Anna, and Ruth.
1910s
Between 1910 and 1919, the most popular names were once again John and Mary. In this decade, there were 376,312 registered Johns and 478,637 Marys. Why the sudden jump? For one, the Social Security Administration began collecting data in 1937, so anyone born before that was only counted if they applied for a Social Security card after 1937. (That means the data for the 1900s, 1910s, and 1920s is based on people who listed their birthdays in these decades despite obtaining cards later in life, and doesn’t count anyone born in this period that didn’t apply for a Social Security card.) The U.S. also saw a population spike as infant mortality rates decreased throughout the 20th century, thanks to advances in health care and better access to clean water.
In the 1910s, for the second decade in a row, the second most popular names for boys and girls were William and Helen, respectively, followed by James, Robert, and Joseph for boys, and Dorothy, Margaret, and Ruth for girls. William has long been a popular English name dating back to William the Conqueror, who became the first Norman king of England in the 11th century. Helen, meanwhile, has its origins in Greek mythology: Helen of Troy was a famous beauty, known as the “face that launched a thousand ships.”
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1920s
Between 1920 and 1929, John finally fell out of the top spot, as the most popular name for boys was Robert, with 576,373 entries. Robert, like William, dates back to English royalty and translates to “bright with fame” or “shining.” Mary stayed strong for girls, with 701,755 registered applications. The 1920s saw continued population increases both in the U.S. and worldwide. This is sometimes credited to a baby boom that occurred after World War I and the Spanish influenza, but is largely due, as in the previous decade, to better health care.
1930s
Between 1930 and 1939, Robert and Mary stayed at the top of the list, with 590,787 Roberts and 572,987 Marys. Though there were more Roberts born this decade than in the previous one, there was a decline in the birth rate overall due to the strain that the Great Depression placed on families. (The overall population was still higher in 1940 than in 1930, at roughly 132 million versus 123 million people.) A few new interesting names entered the runner-up positions in the 1930s. In female names, Betty and Barbara grew in popularity. Betty is a nickname for Elizabeth, a versatile name with Hebrew origins that is also found in English royalty (namely, Queen Elizabeth I). Barbara, like Helen, comes from Greek, and is also the name of St. Barbara, the patron saint of armorers, miners, and artillerymen. For boys’ names, the runners-up after Robert were James, John, William, and Richard.
1940s
Between 1940 and 1949, the name Robert fell to the second spot after James, which had 795,753 entries. Mary remained the most popular name for girls at 640,066 entries. The name James derives from Hebrew, and, like John, stems from a number of uses in the Bible. Like many other popular names, James is also found in the English monarchy, as well as the Scottish monarchy. Though it’s fallen out of the top slots in recent years in the United States, James remains one of the most popular baby names in Scotland. The next most popular boys’ names in the 1940s were Robert, John, William, and Richard; for girls, the list included Linda, Barbara, Patricia, and Carol. Interestingly, while Linda was never the most popular name in any given year, it is the most popular American baby name of all time, translating to “beautiful” in Spanish and Portuguese. Patricia, on the other hand, had been popular in England long before its time in the states, as it was the name of Queen Victoria’s granddaughter.
1950s
Between 1950 and 1959, the names James and Mary remained at the top of the list with 843,711 and 625,601 entries, respectively. Not far behind James, however, was a new popular name: Michael. Michael, like James, stems from the Hebrew Bible, and variations of the name exist across a number of languages, such as Miguel in Spanish and Micha in German. After James and Michael, Robert, John, and David topped the list for boys’ names, while Linda, Patricia, Susan, and Deborah followed Mary for the most popular girls’ names.
1960s
Between 1960 and 1969, everything changed, as is fitting for this revolutionary decade. Both James and Mary were unseated from the No. 1 slot: Michael became the most popular name for boys at 833,102 entries, and Lisa for girls at 496,975 entries. In fact, there were almost 150,000 more Lisas than Marys in the 1960s. The name is another variation on the popular moniker Elizabeth, and even Elvis Presley picked it for his daughter, Lisa Marie, who was born in 1968. While not much else changed in boys’ names this decade, popular girls’ names saw the addition of newcomers Susan, Karen, and Kimberly.
1970s
Between 1970 and 1979, Michael remained the most popular name for boys, topping out the decade with 707,458 entries, while Jennifer unseated the short-lived reign of Lisa with 581,753 entries. There were more new names that cropped up in the second and third slots, however, including Christopher and Jason for boys. The name Jennifer, meanwhile, grew so popular, it became known as the “standard” name for a baby girl. The initial spike in Jennifers started 50 years prior with the appearance of the name in a George Bernard Shaw play called The Doctor’s Dilemma. After Jennifer, the most popular ’70s girls’ names were Amy, Melissa, Michelle, and Kimberly.
1980s
Between 1980 and 1989, Michael retained its title as the most popular name for boys, with 663,827 entries, while Jessica just barely unseated Jennifer as the most popular name for girls — there were 469,518 Jessicas versus 440,896 Jennifers. Jessica stems from the Hebrew Bible, where its original spelling was “Jeska”; the common spelling in English comes from William Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice. The top five boys’ names in the 1980s were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua, and David, and the top five for girls were Jessica, Jennifer, Amanda, Ashley, and Sarah.
1990s
Between 1990 and 1999, Michael and Jessica stayed the most popular names for each gender, with 462,390 Michaels and 303,118 Jessicas. Still, there were fewer entries for both than in the previous decade, in part because a handful of newer, trendy names cropped up as well, such as Matthew, Justin, and Andrew for boys and Ashley and Tiffany for girls. Andrew, like James, is a popular name with links to Scotland, while Matthew goes back to the Bible. Ashley and Tiffany, meanwhile, reflect the trend of girls’ names ending in “y” — names such as Brittany, Courtney, Emily, and Kelsey took off in the beginning of the 21st century.
