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Most popular baby names of the 1920s

In the 1920s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Mary, given to 701,755 girls, about 1 in 17 girls born that decade. For boys it was Robert, given to 576,374, about 1 in 19 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 32% of girls born in the 1920s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 44% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1920s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Mary701,7551 in 17
#2Dorothy368,8751 in 32
#3Helen290,4041 in 41
#4Betty283,0961 in 42
#5Margaret245,0111 in 49
#6Ruth218,5201 in 55
#7Virginia169,5541 in 70
#8Doris151,1931 in 79
#9Mildred147,1551 in 81
#10Frances140,3911 in 85
#11Elizabeth139,6721 in 86
#12Evelyn124,1661 in 96
#13Anna123,8951 in 96
#14Marie110,5641 in 110
#15Alice110,5261 in 110
#16Jean105,9991 in 110
#17Shirley98,6021 in 120
#18Barbara97,2101 in 120
#19Irene92,8361 in 130
#20Marjorie91,2211 in 130

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1920s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Robert576,3741 in 19
#2John564,0521 in 20
#3James515,3011 in 21
#4William512,4021 in 22
#5Charles298,0311 in 37
#6George261,9451 in 42
#7Joseph243,8091 in 45
#8Richard222,5991 in 50
#9Edward197,3481 in 56
#10Donald191,8161 in 57
#11Thomas161,1071 in 68
#12Frank151,8301 in 73
#13Harold133,5851 in 82
#14Paul132,3841 in 83
#15Raymond124,2121 in 89
#16Walter119,8091 in 92
#17Jack115,9831 in 95
#18Henry104,5521 in 110
#19Kenneth99,4901 in 110
#20Arthur97,1121 in 110

What changed

6 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1910s: Betty, Doris, Jean, Shirley, Barbara and Marjorie. 2 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1910s: Jack and Kenneth.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.