The 100 Most Popular Baby Names From 100 Years Ago

If the last few years are any indication of where baby name trends are going, plan to see more Liams, Noahs, Olivias, and Emmas on whatever birth announcements hit your social media feeds in 2024.

Those names were rare among the new babies of 100 years ago, though. According to the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) baby name database, Liam didn’t even make the top 500 for babies born in 1924. Noah barely made the top 400, and Olivia barely made the top 300. Emma, on the other hand, was number 57.

Plenty of other names have proven perennial, though. James was the fourth most popular name in both 1924 and 2022 (the most recent year that the SSA has published data on). William was third in 1924 and sixth in 2022. Elizabeth and Evelyn were 11th and 12th in 1924, respectively, and 15th and 9th in 2022.

Though there are dated names on both sides—you just don’t see many newborn Franks or Harolds these days—it definitely seems like female names are more likely to fall in and out of fashion. The top 10 list of girls’ names from 1924 is mostly populated by ones closely associated with mid-century women or your own grandmother—including Dorothy, Betty, Ruth, Mildred, and Doris. 

But even fairly classic names like first-place finisher Mary and 13th-place finisher Anna aren’t super common today: Mary came in 136th in 2022 and Anna came in 83rd. It’s a similar story with Robert, which came in first place in 1924 and 84th place in 2022. Then again, making the top 100 an entire century after a name’s peak is still pretty impressive.

Plus, it takes quite a while for a name to ascend or descend the ranks. Names tend to only shift slightly (if at all) from year to year; the 1923 list looks almost identical to the following year’s. Once a name reaches the top, though, it often stays there for a decade or longer. Case in point: Michael and Jennifer.

See the top 100 boys’ and girls’ names from 1924 below:

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