The most popular baby names of the past century

What baby names have been most popular over the past century? If you asked that question in the US or England 40 years ago, or 100, or indeed at almost any time during the era of the Modern English language, the answer would have been easy. The top two were almost certainly Mary and John. But we’re now two generations into the modern naming era. John and Mary have yielded the top spots and have nowhere to go but down.

Overall, the century list still skews old because name popularity was so much more concentrated in the past. Yet there are clear signs of change. If you compare today’ 100-year leaders to the same list from 40 years earlier, some of the changes are predictable. Names like Gertrude, Clarence, Bessie and Gladys have plummeted; names like Ryan, Ashley, Justin and Brandon have soared. Out with the 1890s, in with the 1980s.

But some of the developments are less obvious. For instance, you wouldn’t be surprised to meet kids named Emma, Henry, Alice, or Anna today. The names all sound fashionable and popular, and Emma in particular is the #1 girl’s name of the 21^st Century so far. So you might expect those names to be climbing on the century list. In fact, the opposite is true. Today’s notion of “popular” can’t compare to the level of usage the names enjoyed in the 1800s.

The gender balance of the list has also shifted. In the past, male names made up two-thirds of the top 100. While the very top names are still overwhelmingly male, the total top hundred is now nearly 50-50. A group of baby boom and Gen X girls’ favorites like Janet, Cynthia and Christine have squeezed out heaver male classics like Arthur and Harold.

Even biblical names show a mixed trajectory. While core New Testament names like John and Mary fell, the number of Old Testament names in the top 100 doubled. The rise in the Old Testament J trio Jacob, Jonathan and Joshua offset much of the John drop.

Moving forward, the names of the baby boom will start to dominate the list as they represent the last era of true naming consensus. The challenge for today’s hot names will be sticking around long enough to make their mark before the next trend overtakes them.

The full top 100 names of the past 100 years: