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 in the US 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
- Mary
- Patricia
- Jennifer
- Linda
- Elizabeth
- Barbara
- Susan
- Jessica
- Sarah
- Karen
- Nancy
- Lisa
- Margaret
- Betty
- Sandra
- Ashley
- Dorothy
- Kimberly
- Emily
- Donna
- Michelle
- Carol
- Amanda
- Melissa
- Deborah
- Stephanie
- Rebecca
- Laura
- Sharon
- Cynthia
- Kathleen
- Amy
- Shirley
- Angela
- Helen
- Anna
- Brenda
- Pamela
- Nicole
- Samantha
- Katherine
- Emma
- Ruth
- Christine
- Catherine
- Debra
- Rachel
- Carolyn
- Janet
- Virginia
- Maria
- Heather
- Diane
- Julie
- Joyce
- Victoria
- Kelly
- Christina
- Lauren
- Joan
- Evelyn
- Olivia
- Judith
- Megan
- Cheryl
- Martha
- Andrea
- Frances
- Hannah
- Jacqueline
- Ann
- Gloria
- Jean
- Kathryn
- Alice
- Teresa
- Sara
- Janice
- Doris
- Madison
- Julia
- Grace
- Judy
- Abigail
- Marie
- Denise
- Beverly
- Amber
- Theresa
- Marilyn
- Danielle
- Diana
- Brittany
- Natalie
- Sophia
- Rose
- Isabella
- Alexis
- Kayla
- Charlotte
Boys
- James
- John
- Robert
- Michael
- William
- David
- Richard
- Joseph
- Thomas
- Charles
- Christopher
- Daniel
- Matthew
- Anthony
- Donald
- Mark
- Paul
- Steven
- Andrew
- Kenneth
- Joshua
- Kevin
- Brian
- George
- Edward
- Ronald
- Timothy
- Jason
- Jeffrey
- Ryan
- Jacob
- Gary
- Nicholas
- Eric
- Jonathan
- Stephen
- Larry
- Justin
- Scott
- Brandon
- Benjamin
- Samuel
- Frank
- Gregory
- Raymond
- Alexander
- Patrick
- Jack
- Dennis
- Jerry
- Tyler
- Aaron
- Jose
- Henry
- Adam
- Douglas
- Nathan
- Peter
- Zachary
- Kyle
- Walter
- Harold
- Jeremy
- Ethan
- Carl
- Keith
- Roger
- Gerald
- Christian
- Terry
- Sean
- Arthur
- Austin
- Noah
- Lawrence
- Jesse
- Joe
- Bryan
- Billy
- Jordan
- Albert
- Dylan
- Bruce
- Willie
- Gabriel
- Alan
- Juan
- Logan
- Wayne
- Ralph
- Roy
- Eugene
- Randy
- Vincent
- Russell
- Louis
- Philip
- Bobby
- Johnny
- Bradley
