1920s Baby Names

13,525 names were given to children in the United States between 1920 and 1929, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
Mary Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning has never been settled.
704,186 in the 1920s
#2
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
579,614 in the 1920s
#3
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
567,647 in the 1920s
#4
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
518,511 in the 1920s
#5
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
515,057 in the 1920s
#6
Dorothy Dorothy is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God."
369,879 in the 1920s
#7
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
300,191 in the 1920s
#8
Helen Helen is a girl's name from Greek whose meaning is not settled, though torch and shining are the usual readings.
291,152 in the 1920s
#9
Betty Betty is a girl's name that began as a short form of Elizabeth and is now used in its own right.
283,849 in the 1920s
#10
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
264,005 in the 1920s
#11
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
245,709 in the 1920s
#12
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
245,187 in the 1920s
#13
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
223,759 in the 1920s
#14
Ruth Ruth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin usually given as "companion" or "friend," though the derivation is not secure.
219,217 in the 1920s
#15
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
198,362 in the 1920s
#16
Donald Donald is a boy's name from the Scottish Gaelic Dòmhnall, meaning world ruler.
192,835 in the 1920s
#17
Virginia Virginia is a girl's name from a Roman family name, and the American state was named before the name became common in America — both honoring Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.
170,037 in the 1920s
#18
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
162,051 in the 1920s
#19
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
152,777 in the 1920s
#20
Doris Doris is a girl's name from Greek mythology, where she is a sea nymph and the mother of the fifty Nereids.
152,135 in the 1920s
#21
Mildred Mildred is a girl's name from Old English elements meaning gentle strength, and it is among the least fashionable names of the twentieth century — yet our data marks it reviving, ninety years after its 1920 peak.
147,624 in the 1920s
#22
Frances Frances is a girl's name meaning a Frank, or a free one, and the feminine of Francis.
141,498 in the 1920s
#23
Elizabeth Elizabeth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," from Elisheva, the name of Aaron's wife in the Book of Exodus.
140,106 in the 1920s
#24
Harold Harold is a boy's name from Norse and Old English elements meaning army ruler, and it belongs to the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, killed at Hastings in 1066.
134,392 in the 1920s
#25
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
133,237 in the 1920s
#26
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
124,863 in the 1920s
#27
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
124,521 in the 1920s
#28
Anna Anna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," the Greek and Latin form of Hannah.
124,291 in the 1920s
#29
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
120,673 in the 1920s
#30
Jack Jack is a boy's name of English origin that began as a pet form of John, by way of the medieval nickname Jankin.
116,741 in the 1920s
#31
Marie Marie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Mary, and the largest name in our entire dataset with more than 2.8 million births on record.
110,955 in the 1920s
#32
Alice Alice is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," arrived at by a long contraction of Adelaide.
110,911 in the 1920s
#33
Jean Jean is a unisex name in our data: the French form of John, meaning "God is gracious," and separately a Scottish feminine form of Jane.
108,977 in the 1920s
#34
Willie Willie is a pet form of William meaning resolute protector, and one of the more genuinely mixed names in our records — a quarter of the births we hold are female, which is unusual for a name read today as male.
105,807 in the 1920s
#35
Henry Henry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler," from heim, meaning home or estate, and ric, meaning ruler or power.
105,474 in the 1920s
#36
Shirley Shirley is a girl's name from an English place name meaning bright clearing, and it was a boys' name until Charlotte Brontë used it for a heroine in 1849.
100,902 in the 1920s
#37
Kenneth Kenneth is a boy's name anglicizing two separate Gaelic names, one meaning born of fire and one meaning handsome.
100,068 in the 1920s
#38
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
97,818 in the 1920s
#39
Barbara Barbara is a girl's name from the Greek for foreign or strange, the feminine of the word that gives us barbarian.
97,471 in the 1920s
#40
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
94,971 in the 1920s
#41
Irene Irene is a girl's name from the Greek word for peace, and the name of the goddess who personified it.
93,192 in the 1920s
#42
Marjorie Marjorie is a girl's name meaning pearl, an English form of Margaret whose modern spelling was pulled toward the herb marjoram by nothing more than a coincidence of sound.
91,438 in the 1920s
#43
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
89,233 in the 1920s
#44
Lois Lois is a girl's name that appears once in the New Testament, in a letter naming Timothy's grandmother, and its meaning has never been established.
88,830 in the 1920s
#45
Florence Florence is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "blossoming" or "flourishing."
88,628 in the 1920s
#46
Martha Martha is a girl's name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house."
87,102 in the 1920s
#47
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
86,694 in the 1920s
#48
Rose Rose is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the flower, from rosa.
85,665 in the 1920s

What made a 1920s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1920 and 1929, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1920s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.