Thanks to the Social Security Administration , Americans can see which baby names were the most popular every year going back to 1880. The agency also tracks the hottest names from each decade.
Looking back to the 1920s , it’s clear the top names for little girls have changed over time, as the list contains choices like Betty, Mildred, Jean, Shirley and Barbara. Still some, like Elizabeth and Anna, have a little more staying power. And others, like Ruby and Alice, have gotten more popular again in recent years.
On the list of boys’ names, there are many more still-popular picks, such as James, William, Robert, Charles, John and Joseph. But of course, other names like Harold, Eugene and Howard have fallen down in the ranks.
Keep scrolling to see the 50 most popular names for boys and girls born in the U.S. from 1920 to 1929.
Girls
- Mary
- Dorothy
- Helen
- Betty
- Margaret
- Ruth
- Virginia
- Doris
- Mildred
- Frances
- Elizabeth
- Evelyn
- Anna
- Marie
- Alice
- Jean
- Shirley
- Barbara
- Irene
- Marjorie
- Florence
- Lois
- Martha
- Rose
- Lillian
- Louise
- Catherine
- Ruby
- Eleanor
- Patricia
- Gladys
- Annie
- Josephine
- Thelma
- Edna
- Norma
- Pauline
- Lucille
- Edith
- Gloria
- Ethel
- Phyllis
- Grace
- Hazel
- June
- Bernice
- Marion
- Dolores
- Rita
- Lorraine
Boys
- Robert
- John
- James
- William
- Charles
- George
- Joseph
- Richard
- Edward
- Donald
- Thomas
- Frank
- Harold
- Paul
- Raymond
- Walter
- Jack
- Henry
- Kenneth
- Arthur
- Albert
- David
- Harry
- Eugene
- Ralph
- Howard
- Carl
- Willie
- Louis
- Clarence
- Earl
- Roy
- Fred
- Joe
- Francis
- Lawrence
- Herbert
- Leonard
- Ernest
- Alfred
- Anthony
- Stanley
- Norman
- Gerald
- Daniel
- Samuel
- Bernard
- Billy
- Melvin
- Marvin
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