These Were The Most Popular Baby Names In 1920

The Social Security Administration has records of baby names going back to the 1800s.
The Social Security Administration has lists of popular baby names going back to the 1880s.
LindaYolanda via Getty Images
The Social Security Administration has lists of popular baby names going back to the 1880s.

Baby names don’t typically experience dramatic dips and surges in popularity from one year to the next. But over time, there are interesting trends.

Some fall off the map for good, while others decline only to make a comeback. And of course, there are the classics that remain popular to this day. HuffPost took a look at the Social Security Administration’s baby name database to see which names have tanked over time and which ones have staying power ... like 100 years of staying power.

Below, find the 25 most popular baby names for boys and girls in 1920. While James, William, Elizabeth and Evelyn remain popular today, others like Gladys, Mildred and Howard aren’t seen on many new birth certificates a century later.

Girls

  1. Mary
  2. Dorothy
  3. Helen
  4. Margaret
  5. Ruth
  6. Mildred
  7. Virginia
  8. Elizabeth
  9. Frances
  10. Anna
  11. Betty
  12. Evelyn
  13. Marie
  14. Doris
  15. Alice
  16. Florence
  17. Irene
  18. Lillian
  19. Louise
  20. Rose
  21. Catherine
  22. Gladys
  23. Martha
  24. Marjorie
  25. Eleanor

Boys

  1. John
  2. William
  3. Robert
  4. James
  5. Charles
  6. George
  7. Joseph
  8. Edward
  9. Frank
  10. Richard
  11. Thomas
  12. Harold
  13. Walter
  14. Paul
  15. Raymond
  16. Donald
  17. Henry
  18. Arthur
  19. Albert
  20. Jack
  21. Harry
  22. Ralph
  23. Kenneth
  24. Howard
  25. David

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