The Most Popular Baby Names Of The Last 100 Years

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