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The Most Popular Baby Names Of The Last 100 Years

Social Security Administration data shows the top names for babies born from 1920 to 2019.
The names that dominated the last century aren't necessarily the same ones in the top 10 today.
Imgorthand via Getty Images
The names that dominated the last century aren't necessarily the same ones in the top 10 today.

These days, we’re used to newborns named Liam, Olivia and Ava, but those names haven’t dominated the popularity lists for very long in the grand scheme of things.

The Social Security Administration keeps data on baby names going back to the 1880s, including lists of the top picks broken down by decade, state and relative shift in popularity. Another interesting list is the top 100 names of the last 100 years.

The most popular name for baby girls born during the years 1920 to 2019 was Mary, followed by Patricia and Jennifer, according to the agency. As for boys, the names James, John and Robert topped the list.

“Please note that popular names listed below are not necessarily consistently popular in every year,” the SSA website states. “For example, the name James, ranked as the most popular male name over the last 100 years, has been ranked as low as number 19. Similarly, the most popular female name in the table, Mary, ranked as low as 127.”

Without further ado, here are the top 100 names for boys and girls born from 1920 to 2019.

Girls

  1. Mary
  2. Patricia
  3. Jennifer
  4. Linda
  5. Elizabeth
  6. Barbara
  7. Susan
  8. Jessica
  9. Sarah
  10. Karen
  11. Nancy
  12. Lisa
  13. Margaret
  14. Betty
  15. Sandra
  16. Ashley
  17. Dorothy
  18. Kimberly
  19. Emily
  20. Donna
  21. Michelle
  22. Carol
  23. Amanda
  24. Melissa
  25. Deborah
  26. Stephanie
  27. Rebecca
  28. Laura
  29. Sharon
  30. Cynthia
  31. Kathleen
  32. Amy
  33. Shirley
  34. Angela
  35. Helen
  36. Anna
  37. Brenda
  38. Pamela
  39. Nicole
  40. Samantha
  41. Katherine
  42. Emma
  43. Ruth
  44. Christine
  45. Catherine
  46. Debra
  47. Rachel
  48. Carolyn
  49. Janet
  50. Virginia
  51. Maria
  52. Heather
  53. Diane
  54. Julie
  55. Joyce
  56. Victoria
  57. Kelly
  58. Christina
  59. Lauren
  60. Joan
  61. Evelyn
  62. Olivia
  63. Judith
  64. Megan
  65. Cheryl
  66. Martha
  67. Andrea
  68. Frances
  69. Hannah
  70. Jacqueline
  71. Ann
  72. Gloria
  73. Jean
  74. Kathryn
  75. Alice
  76. Teresa
  77. Sara
  78. Janice
  79. Doris
  80. Madison
  81. Julia
  82. Grace
  83. Judy
  84. Abigail
  85. Marie
  86. Denise
  87. Beverly
  88. Amber
  89. Theresa
  90. Marilyn
  91. Danielle
  92. Diana
  93. Brittany
  94. Natalie
  95. Sophia
  96. Rose
  97. Isabella
  98. Alexis
  99. Kayla
  100. Charlotte

Boys

  1. James
  2. John
  3. Robert
  4. Michael
  5. William
  6. David
  7. Richard
  8. Joseph
  9. Thomas
  10. Charles
  11. Christopher
  12. Daniel
  13. Matthew
  14. Anthony
  15. Donald
  16. Mark
  17. Paul
  18. Steven
  19. Andrew
  20. Kenneth
  21. Joshua
  22. Kevin
  23. Brian
  24. George
  25. Edward
  26. Ronald
  27. Timothy
  28. Jason
  29. Jeffrey
  30. Ryan
  31. Jacob
  32. Gary
  33. Nicholas
  34. Eric
  35. Jonathan
  36. Stephen
  37. Larry
  38. Justin
  39. Scott
  40. Brandon
  41. Benjamin
  42. Samuel
  43. Frank
  44. Gregory
  45. Raymond
  46. Alexander
  47. Patrick
  48. Jack
  49. Dennis
  50. Jerry
  51. Tyler
  52. Aaron
  53. Jose
  54. Henry
  55. Adam
  56. Douglas
  57. Nathan
  58. Peter
  59. Zachary
  60. Kyle
  61. Walter
  62. Harold
  63. Jeremy
  64. Ethan
  65. Carl
  66. Keith
  67. Roger
  68. Gerald
  69. Christian
  70. Terry
  71. Sean
  72. Arthur
  73. Austin
  74. Noah
  75. Lawrence
  76. Jesse
  77. Joe
  78. Bryan
  79. Billy
  80. Jordan
  81. Albert
  82. Dylan
  83. Bruce
  84. Willie
  85. Gabriel
  86. Alan
  87. Juan
  88. Logan
  89. Wayne
  90. Ralph
  91. Roy
  92. Eugene
  93. Randy
  94. Vincent
  95. Russell
  96. Louis
  97. Philip
  98. Bobby
  99. Johnny
  100. Bradley
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