Like everything, name trends come and go. However, some names also stick around forever. When looking at the 100 most popular given names for boys and girls born during the last 100 years, you’ll probably be familiar with most of them.
Popular baby names in the U.S. during the last 100 years (1920-2019) include names like James, John and Robert for boys and Mary, Patricia and Jennifer for girls. On the list you can also find names that are popular today, like Liam, Noah and Oliver for boys and Oliva, Emma and Eva for girls.
Below you will find the top 100 baby girl names and top 100 baby boy names over the last 100 years.
Top Baby Names Over the Last 100 Years
In the tables below you will find popular names over the last 100 years. For each rank and sex the table shows the name and number of occurrences of the name. The list does not show the rank today or for every year – the list reflects the total number of newborns that have been given that name over the past 100 years.
Top Baby Girl Names Over the Last 100 Years
This list provides popular baby boy names in the U.S. for births occurring from 1920-2019.
| Rank | Girl Name | Number |
| 1 | Mary | 3,265,105 |
| 2 | Patricia | 1,560,897 |
| 3 | Jennifer | 1,467,664 |
| 4 | Linda | 1,448,309 |
| 5 | Elizabeth | 1,428,981 |
| 6 | Barbara | 1,402,428 |
| 7 | Susan | 1,104,407 |
| 8 | Jessica | 1,045,519 |
| 9 | Sarah | 993,847 |
| 10 | Karen | 985,728 |
| 11 | Nancy | 969,544 |
| 12 | Lisa | 965,003 |
| 13 | Margaret | 944,344 |
| 14 | Betty | 938,638 |
| 15 | Sandra | 873,609 |
| 16 | Ashley | 847,504 |
| 17 | Dorothy | 847,468 |
| 18 | Kimberly | 838,235 |
| 19 | Emily | 826,262 |
| 20 | Donna | 823,285 |
| 21 | Michelle | 811,401 |
| 22 | Carol | 807,303 |
| 23 | Amanda | 772,882 |
| 24 | Melissa | 753,157 |
| 25 | Deborah | 739,809 |
| 26 | Stephanie | 738,123 |
| 27 | Rebecca | 729,683 |
| 28 | Laura | 721,299 |
| 29 | Sharon | 720,816 |
| 30 | Cynthia | 705,685 |
| 31 | Kathleen | 689,366 |
| 32 | Amy | 680,682 |
| 33 | Shirley | 668,154 |
| 34 | Angela | 658,437 |
| 35 | Helen | 652,923 |
| 36 | Anna | 629,4 |
| 37 | Brenda | 606,286 |
| 38 | Pamela | 592,694 |
| 39 | Nicole | 588,265 |
| 40 | Samantha | 576,029 |
| 41 | Katherine | 574,858 |
| 42 | Emma | 570,15 |
| 43 | Ruth | 563,391 |
| 44 | Christine | 563,333 |
| 45 | Catherine | 550,466 |
| 46 | Debra | 548,279 |
| 47 | Rachel | 546,309 |
| 48 | Carolyn | 542,25 |
| 49 | Janet | 541,277 |
| 50 | Virginia | 531,894 |
| 51 | Maria | 528,76 |
| 52 | Heather | 524,161 |
| 53 | Diane | 515,256 |
| 54 | Julie | 506,315 |
| 55 | Joyce | 500,601 |
| 56 | Victoria | 481,786 |
| 57 | Kelly | 471,257 |
| 58 | Christina | 471,012 |
| 59 | Lauren | 469,625 |
| 60 | Joan | 469,101 |
| 61 | Evelyn | 466,314 |
| 62 | Olivia | 464,246 |
| 63 | Judith | 449,885 |
| 64 | Megan | 437,186 |
| 65 | Cheryl | 436,878 |
| 66 | Martha | 434,595 |
| 67 | Andrea | 434,41 |
| 68 | Frances | 429,429 |
| 69 | Hannah | 426,616 |
| 70 | Jacqueline | 420,348 |
| 71 | Ann | 412,411 |
| 72 | Gloria | 409,072 |
| 73 | Jean | 407,127 |
| 74 | Kathryn | 406,12 |
| 75 | Alice | 404,664 |
| 76 | Teresa | 404,603 |
| 77 | Sara | 401,653 |
| 78 | Janice | 400,21 |
| 79 | Doris | 395,048 |
| 80 | Madison | 387,071 |
| 81 | Julia | 383,225 |
| 82 | Grace | 379,239 |
| 83 | Judy | 378,014 |
| 84 | Abigail | 373,862 |
| 85 | Marie | 373,633 |
| 86 | Denise | 371,019 |
| 87 | Beverly | 370,608 |
| 88 | Amber | 369,981 |
| 89 | Theresa | 369,848 |
| 90 | Marilyn | 369,847 |
| 91 | Danielle | 367,791 |
| 92 | Diana | 358,617 |
| 93 | Brittany | 358,579 |
| 94 | Natalie | 352,644 |
| 95 | Sophia | 351,883 |
| 96 | Rose | 351,296 |
| 97 | Isabella | 342,345 |
| 98 | Alexis | 339,548 |
| 99 | Kayla | 339,169 |
| 100 | Charlotte | 338,315 |
Top Baby boy Names over the last 100 years
In list you’ll find popular baby boy names in US for births in 1920-2019.
| Rank | Boy name | Number |
| 1 | James | 4,735,694 |
| 2 | John | 4,502,387 |
| 3 | Robert | 4,499,901 |
| 4 | Michael | 4,330,025 |
| 5 | William | 3,601,719 |
| 6 | David | 3,563,170 |
| 7 | Richard | 2,467,544 |
| 8 | Joseph | 2,352,889 |
| 9 | Thomas | 2,160,330 |
| 10 | Charles | 2,106,078 |
| 11 | Christopher | 2,032,843 |
| 12 | Daniel | 1,889,640 |
| 13 | Matthew | 1,600,285 |
| 14 | Anthony | 1,403,920 |
| 15 | Donald | 1,348,220 |
| 16 | Mark | 1,346,509 |
| 17 | Paul | 1,286,846 |
| 18 | Steven | 1,281,302 |
| 19 | Andrew | 1,252,016 |
| 20 | Kenneth | 1,226,558 |
| 21 | Joshua | 1,214,872 |
| 22 | Kevin | 1,172,372 |
| 23 | Brian | 1,166,797 |
| 24 | George | 1,159,331 |
| 25 | Edward | 1,097,742 |
| 26 | Ronald | 1,073,062 |
| 27 | Timothy | 1,069,165 |
| 28 | Jason | 1,035,285 |
| 29 | Jeffrey | 975,104 |
| 30 | Ryan | 937,629 |
| 31 | Jacob | 925,412 |
| 32 | Gary | 899,858 |
| 33 | Nicholas | 891,818 |
| 34 | Eric | 877,492 |
| 35 | Jonathan | 844,121 |
| 36 | Stephen | 840,005 |
| 37 | Larry | 802,43 |
| 38 | Justin | 777,285 |
| 39 | Scott | 769,663 |
| 40 | Brandon | 759,155 |
| 41 | Benjamin | 730,425 |
| 42 | Samuel | 710,086 |
| 43 | Frank | 707,244 |
| 44 | Gregory | 706,987 |
| 45 | Raymond | 679,913 |
| 46 | Alexander | 666,982 |
| 47 | Patrick | 663,725 |
| 48 | Jack | 637,347 |
| 49 | Dennis | 611,319 |
| 50 | Jerry | 602,696 |
| 51 | Tyler | 589,687 |
| 52 | Aaron | 579,578 |
| 53 | Jose | 559,823 |
| 54 | Henry | 553,392 |
| 55 | Adam | 551,342 |
| 56 | Douglas | 549,324 |
| 57 | Nathan | 544,555 |
| 58 | Peter | 540,603 |
| 59 | Zachary | 537,934 |
| 60 | Kyle | 480,276 |
| 61 | Walter | 476,581 |
| 62 | Harold | 448,64 |
| 63 | Jeremy | 437,552 |
| 64 | Ethan | 435,39 |
| 65 | Carl | 431,805 |
| 66 | Keith | 431,764 |
| 67 | Roger | 429,723 |
| 68 | Gerald | 428,208 |
| 69 | Christian | 425,034 |
| 70 | Terry | 422,106 |
| 71 | Sean | 418,691 |
| 72 | Arthur | 415,722 |
| 73 | Austin | 411,665 |
| 74 | Noah | 409,039 |
| 75 | Lawrence | 407,197 |
| 76 | Jesse | 388,484 |
| 77 | Joe | 388,23 |
| 78 | Bryan | 381,581 |
| 79 | Billy | 379,56 |
| 80 | Jordan | 378,141 |
| 81 | Albert | 377,227 |
| 82 | Dylan | 377,049 |
| 83 | Bruce | 375,986 |
| 84 | Willie | 367,775 |
| 85 | Gabriel | 352,072 |
| 86 | Alan | 348,591 |
| 87 | Juan | 345,375 |
| 88 | Logan | 341,413 |
| 89 | Wayne | 339,139 |
| 90 | Ralph | 338,689 |
| 91 | Roy | 338,079 |
| 92 | Eugene | 330,306 |
| 93 | Randy | 327,821 |
| 94 | Vincent | 322,824 |
| 95 | Russell | 321,274 |
| 96 | Louis | 320,157 |
| 97 | Philip | 315,423 |
| 98 | Bobby | 313,302 |
| 99 | Johnny | 308,243 |
| 100 | Bradley | 306,339 |
Summary of popular baby names over the last 100 years
The most common baby name overall, when looking at the last 100 years, was James. When comparing the names for baby boy and girl names it is easy to see that the same boy names are more frequently used than girl names. Might that mean that parents are more creative when choosing a name for their daughter?
If you are interested in baby names you can find all our articles on the subject here: Baby Names