Most Popular Baby Names of the 1920s

Across the 1920s, Mary was the most popular girls' name, given to 701,755 babies, and Robert led the boys with 576,374.

That's out of 11,952,683 girls and 11,019,370 boys counted between 1920 and 1929, under 9,965 different girls' names and 8,143 boys' names.

Number one, year by year

Most popular names each year, 1920 to 1929
Year	Girls	Boys
1920	Mary	John
1921	Mary	John
1922	Mary	John
1923	Mary	John
1924	Mary	Robert
1925	Mary	Robert
1926	Mary	Robert
1927	Mary	Robert
1928	Mary	Robert
1929	Mary	Robert

Top 100 names of the 1920s

Top girls' names, 1920–1929
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1910s
1	Mary	701,755	same
2	Dorothy	368,875	up 1
3	Helen	290,404	down 1
4	Betty	283,096	up 33
5	Margaret	245,011	down 1
6	Ruth	218,520	down 1
7	Virginia	169,554	up 3
8	Doris	151,193	up 24
9	Mildred	147,155	down 3
10	Frances	140,391	down 1
11	Elizabeth	139,672	down 3
12	Evelyn	124,166	same
13	Anna	123,895	down 6
14	Marie	110,564	down 3
15	Alice	110,526	down 2
16	Jean	105,999	up 29
17	Shirley	98,602	not top 100 in 1910s
18	Barbara	97,210	up 58
19	Irene	92,836	down 2
20	Marjorie	91,221	up 19
21	Florence	88,295	down 7
22	Lois	88,133	up 27
23	Martha	86,788	up 2
24	Rose	85,305	down 8
25	Lillian	83,160	down 10
26	Louise	82,895	down 8
27	Catherine	78,881	down 7
28	Ruby	76,738	down 4
29	Eleanor	74,760	up 2
30	Patricia	74,732	not top 100 in 1910s
31	Gladys	72,561	down 10
32	Annie	69,468	up 1
33	Josephine	69,223	down 10
34	Thelma	68,767	down 6
35	Edna	68,629	down 16
36	Norma	65,241	not top 100 in 1910s
37	Pauline	64,075	down 3
38	Lucille	63,883	down 9
39	Edith	62,989	down 9
40	Gloria	62,859	not top 100 in 1910s
41	Ethel	62,806	down 19
42	Phyllis	61,871	up 57
43	Grace	60,060	down 17
44	Hazel	58,984	down 17
45	June	56,482	up 48
46	Bernice	55,842	down 4
47	Marion	55,178	up 4
48	Dolores	51,990	not top 100 in 1910s
49	Rita	50,587	up 25
50	Lorraine	49,939	not top 100 in 1910s
51	Ann	49,810	down 7
52	Beatrice	49,230	down 14
53	Esther	49,230	down 17
54	Juanita	48,547	up 37
55	Clara	48,183	down 15
56	Jane	48,049	up 12
57	Geraldine	48,044	up 37
58	Sarah	46,769	down 8
59	Emma	46,538	down 18
60	Joan	45,351	not top 100 in 1910s
61	Joyce	44,174	not top 100 in 1910s
62	Nancy	43,807	not top 100 in 1910s
63	Katherine	42,745	down 11
64	Gertrude	42,459	down 29
65	Elsie	42,098	down 19
66	Julia	40,331	down 19
67	Agnes	39,222	down 19
68	Wilma	39,127	up 22
69	Marian	38,978	up 17
70	Bertha	38,571	down 27
71	Eva	38,048	down 18
72	Willie	37,814	down 6
73	Audrey	37,550	not top 100 in 1910s
74	Theresa	36,666	up 23
75	Vivian	36,572	up 2
76	Wanda	36,007	not top 100 in 1910s
77	Laura	35,991	down 15
78	Charlotte	35,752	up 6
79	Ida	35,619	down 25
80	Elaine	34,907	not top 100 in 1910s
81	Anne	34,511	down 24
82	Marilyn	34,202	not top 100 in 1910s
83	Kathryn	33,791	down 20
84	Maxine	33,743	up 16
85	Kathleen	33,597	not top 100 in 1910s
86	Viola	33,251	down 28
87	Pearl	32,774	down 31
88	Vera	32,541	down 23
89	Bessie	32,158	down 34
90	Myrtle	30,569	down 31
91	Alma	30,434	down 22
92	Beverly	30,205	not top 100 in 1910s
93	Violet	30,022	down 14
94	Nellie	29,689	down 34
95	Ella	29,521	down 23
96	Lillie	29,382	down 23
97	Jessie	29,289	down 30
98	Jeanne	29,119	not top 100 in 1910s
99	Eileen	28,588	not top 100 in 1910s
100	Ellen	28,391	down 11

Top boys' names, 1920–1929
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1910s
1	Robert	576,374	up 3
2	John	564,052	down 1
3	James	515,301	same
4	William	512,402	down 2
5	Charles	298,031	up 2
6	George	261,945	same
7	Joseph	243,809	down 2
8	Richard	222,599	up 7
9	Edward	197,348	down 1
10	Donald	191,816	up 10
11	Thomas	161,107	down 1
12	Frank	151,830	down 3
13	Harold	133,585	down 1
14	Paul	132,384	same
15	Raymond	124,212	up 1
16	Walter	119,809	down 5
17	Jack	115,983	up 6
18	Henry	104,552	down 5
19	Kenneth	99,490	up 11
20	Arthur	97,112	down 2
21	Albert	94,431	down 4
22	David	88,736	up 7
23	Harry	86,183	down 4
24	Eugene	84,755	up 15
25	Ralph	84,466	down 4
26	Howard	70,348	up 1
27	Carl	69,851	down 2
28	Willie	67,993	down 2
29	Louis	67,693	down 7
30	Clarence	66,574	down 6
31	Earl	63,602	up 2
32	Roy	63,259	same
33	Fred	62,742	down 5
34	Joe	62,676	same
35	Francis	59,096	down 4
36	Lawrence	56,867	same
37	Herbert	56,531	up 4
38	Leonard	53,793	up 5
39	Ernest	53,653	down 4
40	Alfred	50,156	up 2
41	Anthony	50,054	down 3
42	Stanley	49,456	down 5
43	Norman	49,364	up 6
44	Gerald	44,520	up 33
45	Daniel	43,407	up 7
46	Samuel	43,362	down 6
47	Bernard	42,408	up 1
48	Billy	42,096	not top 100 in 1910s
49	Melvin	40,583	up 9
50	Marvin	39,589	up 20
51	Warren	38,775	up 46
52	Michael	37,893	down 8
53	Leroy	37,871	up 8
54	Russell	37,208	down 3
55	Leo	36,960	down 8
56	Andrew	35,952	down 10
57	Edwin	35,255	down 4
58	Elmer	34,919	down 13
59	Peter	34,066	down 9
60	Floyd	33,157	same
61	Lloyd	33,125	down 4
62	Ray	32,045	up 9
63	Frederick	31,512	down 9
64	Theodore	31,287	down 2
65	Clifford	31,242	down 2
66	Vernon	29,432	up 10
67	Herman	29,011	down 11
68	Clyde	28,957	down 4
69	Chester	28,435	down 14
70	Philip	27,268	down 1
71	Alvin	26,872	up 10
72	Lester	26,513	down 13
73	Wayne	26,402	up 25
74	Vincent	26,237	down 6
75	Gordon	25,622	up 13
76	Leon	25,577	up 8
77	Lewis	25,328	down 5
78	Charlie	25,176	down 13
79	Glenn	25,157	up 7
80	Calvin	24,785	not top 100 in 1910s
81	Martin	24,243	down 2
82	Milton	24,198	down 9
83	Lee	23,556	down 1
84	Jesse	23,170	down 6
85	Dale	22,752	not top 100 in 1910s
86	Cecil	22,528	down 6
87	Bill	22,288	not top 100 in 1910s
88	Harvey	21,785	up 2
89	Roger	21,753	not top 100 in 1910s
90	Victor	21,498	down 15
91	Benjamin	21,028	down 17
92	Wallace	20,916	not top 100 in 1910s
93	Ronald	20,894	not top 100 in 1910s
94	Sam	20,844	down 28
95	Allen	20,092	up 4
96	Arnold	19,531	down 2
97	Willard	18,440	down 14
98	Gilbert	18,233	not top 100 in 1910s
99	Edgar	18,037	down 12
100	Oscar	17,740	down 15

Names that peaked in the 1920s

These were among the decade's top 1,000 and reached their highest share of babies in a year between 1920 and 1929. The year each one peaked is in brackets.

Girls

Dorothy (1923)
Virginia (1922)
Doris (1929)
Marjorie (1921)
Lois (1929)
Phyllis (1929)
June (1925)
Lorraine (1928)
Juanita (1924)
Marian (1928)

Boys

Harold (1920)
Jack (1927)
Eugene (1928)
Herbert (1929)
Leonard (1920)
Alfred (1928)
Bernard (1921)
Melvin (1928)
Warren (1921)
Alvin (1927)

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.