Reviving Names

Names with a clear peak long ago and a clear climb now — the shape that proves the hundred-year rule rather than merely illustrating it.

Every name here is placed by how its recent years in the birth records compare with its earlier ones — so the list moves as the records do.

Rankings for

764 names, most popular first in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

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.
Boy Germanic #5 in US
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
Girl English #8 in US
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.
Girl Occitan/French #12 in US
Hazel Hazel is a girl's name of English origin naming the hazel tree, from the Old English hæsel.
Girl English #21 in US
Josephine Josephine is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the French feminine form of Joseph.
Girl Hebrew #53 in US
Clara Clara is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "bright" or "clear," from clarus.
Girl Latin #63 in US
Ruby Ruby is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the red gemstone, from ruber, meaning red.
Girl Latin #64 in US
Alice Alice is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," arrived at by a long contraction of Adelaide.
Girl Germanic #65 in US
Vivian Vivian is a name of Latin origin meaning "alive" or "lively," from vivus.
Girl Latin #72 in US
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
Boy Celtic #87 in US
Georgia Georgia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," the feminine of George, from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
Girl Greek #99 in US
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
Girl Greek #112 in US
Rose Rose is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the flower, from rosa.
Girl Latin #114 in US
Esther Esther is a girl's name usually connected to the Persian word for star, and possibly to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar.
Girl Persian #119 in US
Elsie Elsie is a girl's name that began as a Scottish short form of Elspeth, itself a Scottish form of Elizabeth.
Girl Hebrew #123 in US
Dean Dean is a boy's name with two English origins.
Boy English #125 in US
Calvin Calvin is a boy's name of French origin meaning "little bald one," from the Latin calvus, bald.
Boy French #133 in US
Leon Leon is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "lion."
Boy Greek #138 in US
Genevieve Genevieve is a girl's name of Gaulish origin whose meaning is not settled.
Girl Gaulish #148 in US
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.
Girl Latin #150 in US
Rosalie Rosalie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rose."
Girl Latin #171 in US
Ruth Ruth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin usually given as "companion" or "friend," though the derivation is not secure.
Girl Hebrew #173 in US
Annie Annie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor."
Girl Hebrew #182 in US
Olive Olive is a girl's name of Latin origin taken from the tree, whose name comes from oliva.
Girl Latin #197 in US
Mabel Mabel is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "lovable."
Girl Latin #201 in US
Vera Vera is a girl's name with two origins that both work. In Russian it means "faith"; in Latin vera means "true" — and unusually for such a pair, the two senses reinforce rather than contradict each other.
Girl Slavic #205 in US
Celine Celine is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "heavenly."
Girl Latin #207 in US
Ada Ada is a girl's name with two origins. In Germanic it is a short form of names beginning with adal, noble; in Hebrew, Adah means "adornment" and belongs to two women in Genesis.
Girl Germanic #220 in US
Jane Jane is a girl's name from the Hebrew for God is gracious, the English feminine of John.
Girl English #221 in US
Lucille Lucille is a girl's name from the Latin for light, given to children born at daybreak.
Girl French #237 in US
Warren Warren is a boy's name from a Norman place name, and it is the second-strongest revival we hold — it peaked in 1921 and now ranks 240th in the United States on 1,493 births, a century later.
Boy Norman #240 in US
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
Boy Germanic #251 in US
Rosemary Rosemary is not Rose and Mary joined together — it is the herb, from a Latin phrase meaning dew of the sea.
Girl Latin #251 in US
Harvey Harvey is a boy's name of Breton origin meaning "battle worthy."
Boy Breton #253 in US
Lena Lena is a girl's name used as a short form of Helena, Magdalena and Elena, so it usually carries the sense "light" or "torch."
Girl Greek #279 in US
Rosie Rosie is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rose."
Girl Latin #283 in US
Sylvia Sylvia is a girl's name from the Latin for a forest, and the mother of Rome's founders bore it — Rhea Silvia, who was made a Vestal Virgin so she could not produce heirs.
Girl Latin #300 in US
Elaine Elaine is a girl's name, the Old French form of Helen, whose meaning was never established.
Girl French #304 in US
Colette Colette is a girl's name meaning victory of the people, a French diminutive of Nicole.
Girl French #316 in US
Frances Frances is a girl's name meaning a Frank, or a free one, and the feminine of Francis.
Girl Latin #318 in US
Hattie Hattie is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
Girl Germanic #334 in US
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.
Boy English #344 in US
Russell Russell is a boy's name from a Norman nickname meaning little red, given to someone red-haired or ruddy.
Boy Norman #346 in US
Franklin Franklin means a freeholder — a man who owned his land but held no noble rank, a specific medieval class.
Boy English #359 in US
Gwendolyn Gwendolyn means white ring or blessed ring, from Welsh, and the second element is genuinely a ring — a torc or armlet, which was the standard Celtic mark of rank.
Girl Welsh #360 in US
Matilda Matilda is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "mighty in battle."
Girl Germanic #364 in US
Forrest Forrest is one of only two names in this group our data marks as rising, and it is on its second life — American births ran 490 in 2018 and 862 in 2025, having collapsed from a 1994 peak twenty years before.
Boy English #374 in US
Florence Florence is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "blossoming" or "flourishing."
Girl Latin #391 in US

Or Browse by Decade

A style is our reading of a name. A decade is the register — the names children were actually given, in order, with the counts.

Search Names

Reviving Names

Or Browse by Decade

Related Styles