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Hello, Melvin: The 100 Most Popular Baby Names of 1923
By Jake Rossen
Can an adult legally change their name? Of course they can. Do they sometimes adopt nicknames? They do. But by and large, the names we’re given by our parents at birth are usually the last word—and often reflective of the times. Today, baby names like Noah, Olivia, and Liam are popular, and few would dream of naming their child Mildred.
This was not the case in 1923, when an abundance of names that now seem out of fashion was common. BabyCenter compiled a list of the 100 most popular baby names for that year.
Girls' Names
- Mary
- Dorothy
- Helen
- Margaret
- Betty
- Ruth
- Virginia
- Mildred
- Elizabeth
- Frances
- Doris
- Evelyn
- Anna
- Marie
- Alice
- Marjorie
- Irene
- Florence
- Jean
- Lillian
- Martha
- Louise
- Rose
- Catherine
- Ruby
- Shirley
- Lois
- Eleanor
- Gladys
- Josephine
- Thelma
- Edna
- Barbara
- Annie
- Lucille
- Edith
- Pauline
- Ethel
- Grace
- Hazel
- Norma
- June
- Bernice
- Marion
- Phyllis
- Beatrice
- Esther
- Gloria
- Clara
- Rita
Boys' Names
- John
- Robert
- William
- James
- Charles
- George
- Joseph
- Edward
- Richard
- Donald
- Frank
- Thomas
- Harold
- Paul
- Raymond
- Walter
- Jack
- Henry
- Arthur
- Albert
- Kenneth
- Harry
- Ralph
- David
- Eugene
- Howard
- Louis
- Carl
- Clarence
- Willie
- Earl
- Roy
- Fred
- Francis
- Joe
- Lawrence
- Leonard
- Ernest
- Anthony
- Herbert
- Stanley
- Alfred
- Warren
- Norman
- Samuel
- Bernard
- Daniel
- Melvin
- Leo
- Michael
While some (James, Robert, Elizabeth, Anna) endure, others appear more antiquated. There probably won’t be many Ethels graduating junior high this year.