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

#625
Neal Neal has no agreed meaning — champion, cloud and passionate are all proposed for the Irish Niall and none is established.
3,924 in the 1920s
#626
Dollie
3,906 in the 1920s
#627
Reuben Reuben is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "behold, a son."
3,882 in the 1920s
#628
Edmond Edmond means wealthy protector, and its saint was a king shot with arrows by Danes — Edmund of East Anglia was England's patron for three centuries before George replaced him.
3,842 in the 1920s
#629
Claudia Claudia means lame, and it comes from one of Rome's most powerful families.
3,839 in the 1920s
#630
Edythe
3,826 in the 1920s
#631
Hannah Hannah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," from Channah.
3,811 in the 1920s
#632
Alyce
3,803 in the 1920s
#633
Letha
3,780 in the 1920s
#634
Jasper Jasper is a boy's name of Persian origin meaning "treasurer," from a root behind the title of a keeper of the treasury.
3,780 in the 1920s
#635
Wilmer
3,771 in the 1920s
#636
Lily Lily is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "lily flower," from lilium.
3,762 in the 1920s
#637
Conrad Conrad set its American peak in the most recent year on record, 2025, on 770 births — a name birth records carry from 1880 reaching its high point a hundred and forty-five years later.
3,746 in the 1920s
#638
Reginald Reginald means counsel-power, and England and Wales ranks it 229th on 217 births against 1,285th in the United States — one of the sharpest British-versus-American splits in this group.
3,717 in the 1920s
#639
Dolly
3,679 in the 1920s
#640
Stuart Stuart means steward, and the office was literally the sty warden — keeper of the pigs — which rose to run the royal household and then supplied the name of a dynasty.
3,673 in the 1920s
#641
Dixie Dixie names the American South and nobody knows why — the leading account is a French ten-dollar note printed dix in Louisiana, and the rival is the Mason-Dixon line.
3,665 in the 1920s
#642
Cynthia Cynthia is a girl's name that began as a title for the moon goddess — it means she of Mount Cynthus, the peak on Delos where Artemis was said to have been born.
3,661 in the 1920s
#643
Maynard
3,660 in the 1920s
#644
Christina Christina is a girl's name from the Latin for a follower of Christ, and the fullest of the family that includes Christine and Kristina.
3,657 in the 1920s
#645
Wilda
3,643 in the 1920s
#646
Steven Steven is a boy's name from the Greek for crown or garland, and the phonetic respelling of Stephen.
3,639 in the 1920s
#647
Grant Grant means tall or large, from a Norman French nickname — and it has nothing to do with granting or giving, which is a different word that arrived in English by a separate route.
3,631 in the 1920s
#648
Elton
3,618 in the 1920s
#649
Pearlie
3,607 in the 1920s
#650
Will Will means will-helmet, and the compound is stranger than it looks — the Germanic joins desire to a piece of armor, so the name reads as protection by determination.
3,593 in the 1920s
#651
Wade Wade means a river crossing, and there is a second Wade entirely — a Germanic sea giant from Old English legend whose story Chaucer refers to as though everyone knew it, and which is now lost.
3,567 in the 1920s
#652
Mitchell Mitchell is a boy's name from a medieval English form of Michael, meaning who is like God — though a second and quite separate source exists from an old word simply meaning big.
3,555 in the 1920s
#653
Clair
3,539 in the 1920s
#654
Moses Moses is explained in Exodus as drawn out of the water, but the name is more likely Egyptian — mose means born of, and it is the second half of Thutmose and Ramose, where the god's name sits in front.
3,535 in the 1920s
#655
Bernadette Bernadette is a girl's name meaning brave as a bear, and its bearer was a fourteen-year-old miller's daughter whose visions at Lourdes in 1858 turned a Pyrenean grotto into one of the most visited places on earth.
3,533 in the 1920s
#656
Hope Hope is a girl's name of Old English origin taken from the virtue, from hopian.
3,486 in the 1920s
#657
Gail Gail is a girl's name meaning my father rejoices, clipped from Abigail.
3,462 in the 1920s
#658
Elvin
3,450 in the 1920s
#659
Madge
3,448 in the 1920s
#660
Mona Mona in Mona Lisa is not a name — it contracts ma donna, my lady, so the painting's title is closer to Madam Lisa than to anyone called Mona.
3,446 in the 1920s
#661
Dave Dave ranks 2,217th in England and Wales and 2,469th in the United States, so the short form outranks its American peak market in a country that never recorded more than fifteen in a year.
3,445 in the 1920s
#662
Merlin
3,435 in the 1920s
#663
Kay Kay serves two unrelated sources — the initial of Katherine, and Sir Kay of Arthurian legend, who is Arthur's foster brother and one of the oldest figures in the whole cycle.
3,425 in the 1920s
#664
Berniece
3,417 in the 1920s
#665
Aline Aline means noble, worn down from Adelaide through Adeline — three names that are the same word at three stages of erosion, and France ranks it 292nd on 185 births.
3,416 in the 1920s
#666
Ruthie
3,415 in the 1920s
#667
Lora Lora means from Laurentum, and the laurel is one step removed — the Roman town was named for its bay trees, and the personal name says which town you came from rather than which plant crowned you.
3,411 in the 1920s
#668
Robbie Robbie is a unisex name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," a diminutive of Robert.
3,370 in the 1920s
#669
Adelaide Adelaide means noble in kind, and it is one of only three names in this group birth records mark as rising — 230th in Canada, 289th in the United States, 344th in England and Wales, 416th in France and 618th in Scotland, and setting its English peak in the most recent year on record.
3,344 in the 1920s
#670
Aurora Aurora is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "dawn."
3,342 in the 1920s
#671
Leila Leila means night, from Arabic, and it is one of the most evenly spread names on this site — France 211th, the United States 259th, England and Wales 269th, Scotland 282nd and Ireland 339th, a spread of just 128 places.
3,340 in the 1920s
#672
Polly Polly is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, a pet form of Mary whose meaning has never been settled.
3,332 in the 1920s

What Made a 1920s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1920 and 1929. A name's position here is how many of them were.

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.