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

#49
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
85,390 in the 1920s
#50
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
84,952 in the 1920s
#51
Lillian Lillian is a girl's name usually explained as an elaboration of Lily, from the Latin lilium, and sometimes as a variant of Elizabeth by way of the medieval pet form Lilian.
83,492 in the 1920s
#52
Louise Louise is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior," the French feminine form of Louis.
83,395 in the 1920s
#53
Catherine Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is genuinely unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense.
79,136 in the 1920s
#54
Ruby Ruby is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the red gemstone, from ruber, meaning red.
77,390 in the 1920s
#55
Eleanor Eleanor is a girl's name that traces back to Eleanor of Aquitaine, the twelfth-century queen of France and later England, whose own name, Aliénor, is widely explained as "the other Aenor," distinguishing her from her mother, also named Aenor.
74,964 in the 1920s
#56
Patricia Patricia is a girl's name from the Latin for noble or patrician, the feminine of Patrick.
74,940 in the 1920s
#57
Gladys Gladys is a girl's name from Welsh, usually taken as a form of Claudia — which would give it the meaning lame.
72,812 in the 1920s
#58
Marion Marion is a French diminutive of Mary that has crossed sexes twice over — it is 81 percent female in our records, yet its most famous bearer was John Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison.
71,213 in the 1920s
#59
Howard Howard is a boy's name whose origin is genuinely contested — high guardian, brave heart and even a keeper of pigs have all been proposed.
70,793 in the 1920s
#60
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
70,346 in the 1920s
#61
Annie Annie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor."
69,902 in the 1920s
#62
Josephine Josephine is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the French feminine form of Joseph.
69,444 in the 1920s
#63
Thelma Thelma is a girl's name invented for a novel in 1887, and the Greek word it was probably built from means "will" or "volition."
69,101 in the 1920s
#64
Edna Edna is a girl's name from a Hebrew word meaning delight, and it shares its root with Eden.
68,877 in the 1920s
#65
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
68,296 in the 1920s
#66
Clarence Clarence is a boy's name taken from an English dukedom, itself named for a Suffolk town.
66,979 in the 1920s
#67
Norma Norma is a girl's name that appears to have been invented for an opera — Bellini's Norma of 1831 — and it was the birth name of Marilyn Monroe, who appears elsewhere in these pages under the name that replaced it.
65,461 in the 1920s
#68
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
65,206 in the 1920s
#69
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
64,421 in the 1920s
#70
Pauline Pauline is a girl's name from the Latin for small or humble, the feminine of Paul.
64,301 in the 1920s
#71
Earl Earl is a boy's name taken from the English noble title, and it is the only rank in the British peerage with a native English name rather than a French one.
64,153 in the 1920s
#72
Lucille Lucille is a girl's name from the Latin for light, given to children born at daybreak.
64,103 in the 1920s
#73
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
63,803 in the 1920s
#74
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
63,215 in the 1920s
#75
Edith Edith is a girl's name of Old English origin meaning "prosperous in war."
63,172 in the 1920s
#76
Ethel Ethel is a girl's name from an Old English word meaning noble, and it is not a name in its own right in that language — it is the first half of longer names like Ethelred, cut off and used alone.
63,144 in the 1920s
#77
Gloria Gloria is a girl's name that is simply the Latin word for glory, taken unchanged.
63,053 in the 1920s
#78
Phyllis Phyllis is a girl's name from the Greek for foliage, borne by a mythological princess who was turned into an almond tree.
62,010 in the 1920s
#79
Grace Grace is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "favor" or "blessing," from gratia.
60,283 in the 1920s
#80
Hazel Hazel is a girl's name of English origin naming the hazel tree, from the Old English hæsel.
59,627 in the 1920s
#81
June June is a girl's name of Latin origin taken from the month, which is named for the goddess Juno — the queen of the Roman gods and the protector of marriage and childbirth.
57,245 in the 1920s
#82
Lawrence Lawrence is a boy's name meaning from Laurentum, an ancient Italian town linked to the laurel.
57,176 in the 1920s
#83
Bernice Bernice is a girl's name meaning bringer of victory, and it is the same name as Veronica — both descend from the Greek Berenike by different routes.
56,896 in the 1920s
#84
Herbert Herbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright army.
56,846 in the 1920s
#85
Leonard Leonard is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "lion-strong," and its saint is the patron of prisoners and of women in labor.
54,111 in the 1920s
#86
Ernest Ernest is a boy's name from a Germanic word meaning serious or resolute, and it is far stronger in Europe than in America — 252nd in England and Wales and 276th in France against 1042nd in the United States.
54,033 in the 1920s
#87
Dolores Dolores is a girl's name meaning sorrows — taken from a title of the Virgin Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows, which counts seven specific griefs.
52,300 in the 1920s
#88
Rita Rita is a girl's name meaning pearl, clipped from the end of Margarita rather than the front.
50,724 in the 1920s
#89
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
50,456 in the 1920s
#90
Anthony Anthony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning is genuinely unknown — it is probably Etruscan rather than Latin.
50,349 in the 1920s
#91
Lorraine Lorraine is a girl's name from the French region, whose own name means the kingdom of Lothair — a Frankish king's realm that was carved out of Charlemagne's empire and slowly disappeared.
50,198 in the 1920s
#92
Ann Ann is a girl's name from the Hebrew Hannah, meaning grace or favor, and the spelling without the final e.
49,975 in the 1920s
#93
Norman Norman means a Northman — a Viking.
49,765 in the 1920s
#94
Stanley Stanley is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "stony clearing."
49,760 in the 1920s
#95
Beatrice Beatrice is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "she who brings happiness."
49,453 in the 1920s
#96
Esther Esther is a girl's name usually connected to the Persian word for star, and possibly to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.
49,420 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.