Vintage baby names that rocked the 1920s

Though many refer to it as the Roaring Twenties, growing up in this decade wasn't totally glamorous. Often called the Greatest Generation, babies born in the early 20s were born after World War I and grew up during the Great Depression. But, they weren't old enough to fight during World War II. Then followed the Silent Generation, a more cautious group born at the end of the 20s. Men born around this time would be young adults when it came time for the Korean and Vietnam Wars. While their parents enjoyed the height of American consumerism, the children of this time faced unique hardships.

Still, many common names from the 1920s remain popular picks for new parents today, likely because of the "100-year rule." This rule refers to the trend of parents embracing names from the previous century, likely due to both nostalgia and the desire to bestow a unique name. The 2020s are no exception—according to a March 2026 report from The Everymom, names like Eleanor, Hazel, and Charlotte have been making a comeback for girls this year, while Henry, Jack, and Leo are becoming more popular for boys.

To find other popular '20s names that might inspire today's parents, Stacker used data from the Social Security Administration to organize the 50 most common male and female names of babies from this generation, plus how each of those names ranked in the year 2016. Many of these names have remained popular for over 90 years.

Public Domain

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#50 Girl: Dolores

Rank in the 1920s: #50
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,198.6
Rank in 2016: #3,226
Births in 2016: 50

Aaron Mello // Pexels

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#50 Boy: Marvin

Rank in the 1920s: #50
Average annual births in the 1920s: 3,958.9
Rank in 2016: #544
Births in 2016: 529

bottlein // Pixabay

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#49 Girl: Gloria

Rank in the 1920s: #49
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,285.4
Rank in 2016: #550
Births in 2016: 563

Pixabay

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#49 Boy: Melvin

Rank in the 1920s: #49
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,057.6
Rank in 2016: #738
Births in 2016: 328

Donnie Ray Jones // Flickr

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#48 Girl: Lorraine

Rank in the 1920s: #48
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,993.8
Rank in 2016: #1,557
Births in 2016: 143

qimono // Pixabay

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#48 Boy: Billy

Rank in the 1920s: #48
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,209.9
Rank in 2016: #865
Births in 2016: 258

Max Pixel

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#47 Girl: Rita

Rank in the 1920s: #47
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,058.6
Rank in 2016: #1,185
Births in 2016: 209

Public Domain

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#47 Boy: Bernard

Rank in the 1920s: #47
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,240.8
Rank in 2016: #1,163
Births in 2016: 163

Max Pixel

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#46 Girl: Marion

Rank in the 1920s: #46
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,517.7
Rank in 2016: #1,449
Births in 2016: 158

Max Pixel

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#46 Boy: Samuel

Rank in the 1920s: #46
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,336.7
Rank in 2016: #21
Births in 2016: 10,492

Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock

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#45 Girl: Bernice

Rank in the 1920s: #45
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,583.8
Rank in 2016: #3,089
Births in 2016: 53

Pexels

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#45 Boy: Daniel

Rank in the 1920s: #45
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,342.
Rank in 2016: #13
Births in 2016: 12,839

Pexels

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#44 Girl: Hazel

Rank in the 1920s: #44
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,898.4
Rank in 2016: #52
Births in 2016: 4,634

Pexels

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#44 Boy: Gerald

Rank in the 1920s: #44
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,452.5
Rank in 2016: #812
Births in 2016: 283

PxHere

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#43 Girl: June

Rank in the 1920s: #43
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,648.1
Rank in 2016: #268
Births in 2016: 1,180

Roman Sorkin // Shutterstock

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#43 Boy: Norman

Rank in the 1920s: #43
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,935.7
Rank in 2016: #1,085
Births in 2016: 180

PxHere

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#42 Girl: Grace

Rank in the 1920s: #42
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,006.1
Rank in 2016: #19
Births in 2016: 7,531

Vasiuk Iryna // Shutterstock

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#42 Boy: Stanley

Rank in the 1920s: #42
Average annual births in the 1920s: 4,945.5
Rank in 2016: #682
Births in 2016: 364

Pexels

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#41 Girl: Patricia

Rank in the 1920s: #41
Average annual births in the 1920s: 7,473.7
Rank in 2016: #745
Births in 2016: 380

Kenny Louie // Wikimedia Commons

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#41 Boy: Anthony

Rank in the 1920s: #41
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,005.5
Rank in 2016: #30
Births in 2016: 9,815

InfoShri // Wikimedia Commons

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#40 Girl: Phyllis

Rank in the 1920s: #40
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,186.7
Rank in 2016: #6,104
Births in 2016: 21

PxHere

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#40 Boy: Alfred

Rank in the 1920s: #40
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,015.8
Rank in 2016: #844
Births in 2016: 263

Pexels

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#39 Girl: Edith

Rank in the 1920s: #39
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,298.8
Rank in 2016: #488
Births in 2016: 631

Wikimedia Commons

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#39 Boy: Ernest

Rank in the 1920s: #39
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,365.2
Rank in 2016: #976
Births in 2016: 208

PxHere

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#38 Girl: Ethel

Rank in the 1920s: #38
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,280.
Rank in 2016: #5,300
Births in 2016: 25

Sidharth Sircar // Pexels

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#38 Boy: Leonard

Rank in the 1920s: #38
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,379.8
Rank in 2016: #600
Births in 2016: 446

PxHere

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#37 Girl: Lucille

Rank in the 1920s: #37
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,387.9
Rank in 2016: #284
Births in 2016: 1,122

PxHere

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#37 Boy: Herbert

Rank in the 1920s: #37
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,652.6
Rank in 2016: #1,853
Births in 2016: 80

PxHere

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#36 Girl: Pauline

Rank in the 1920s: #36
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,407.1
Rank in 2016: #2,801
Births in 2016: 61

PxHere

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#36 Boy: Lawrence

Rank in the 1920s: #36
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,686.2
Rank in 2016: #493
Births in 2016: 612

PxHere

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#35 Girl: Norma

Rank in the 1920s: #35
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,523.8
Rank in 2016: #2,223
Births in 2016: 86

PxHere

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#35 Boy: Francis

Rank in the 1920s: #35
Average annual births in the 1920s: 5,909.2
Rank in 2016: #480
Births in 2016: 636

PxHere

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#34 Girl: Edna

Rank in the 1920s: #34
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,862.7
Rank in 2016: #2,334
Births in 2016: 80

Thomas // Flickr

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#34 Boy: Joe

Rank in the 1920s: #34
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,267.1
Rank in 2016: #618
Births in 2016: 431

PxHere

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#33 Girl: Thelma

Rank in the 1920s: #33
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,876.9
Rank in 2016: #4,496
Births in 2016: 32

smpratt90 // Pixabay

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#33 Boy: Fred

Rank in the 1920s: #33
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,274.
Rank in 2016: #1,539
Births in 2016: 107

PxHere

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#32 Girl: Josephine

Rank in the 1920s: #32
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,921.7
Rank in 2016: #114
Births in 2016: 2,766

Max Pixel

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#32 Boy: Roy

Rank in the 1920s: #32
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,325.8
Rank in 2016: #539
Births in 2016: 536

Echo Grid // Unsplash

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#31 Girl: Annie

Rank in the 1920s: #31
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,946.3
Rank in 2016: #287
Births in 2016: 1,113

Max Pixel

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#31 Boy: Earl

Rank in the 1920s: #31
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,360.2
Rank in 2016: #1,527
Births in 2016: 109

Sveta Lagutina // Shutterstock

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#30 Girl: Gladys

Rank in the 1920s: #30
Average annual births in the 1920s: 7,256.1
Rank in 2016: #2,514
Births in 2016: 71

Melanie M // Flickr

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#30 Boy: Clarence

Rank in the 1920s: #30
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,657.7
Rank in 2016: #1,207
Births in 2016: 155

Todsaporn Wattanasupinyo // Shutterstock

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#29 Girl: Eleanor

Rank in the 1920s: #29
Average annual births in the 1920s: 7,475.7
Rank in 2016: #41
Births in 2016: 5,100

Ana Paula Lima // Pexels

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#29 Boy: Louis

Rank in the 1920s: #29
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,768.9
Rank in 2016: #289
Births in 2016: 1,239

Freephotos.cc

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#28 Girl: Ruby

Rank in the 1920s: #28
Average annual births in the 1920s: 7,673.4
Rank in 2016: #71
Births in 2016: 3,796

Bess Hamiti // Pexels

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#28 Boy: Willie

Rank in the 1920s: #28
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,798.9
Rank in 2016: #799
Births in 2016: 290

LIOX // Shutterstock

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#27 Girl: Catherine

Rank in the 1920s: #27
Average annual births in the 1920s: 7,888.1
Rank in 2016: #195
Births in 2016: 1,660

Pexels

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#27 Boy: Carl

Rank in the 1920s: #27
Average annual births in the 1920s: 6,985.
Rank in 2016: #604
Births in 2016: 442

Freephotos.cc

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#26 Girl: Lillian

Rank in the 1920s: #26
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,315.2
Rank in 2016: #28
Births in 2016: 6,333

Min An // Pexels

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#26 Boy: Howard

Rank in the 1920s: #26
Average annual births in the 1920s: 7,034.7
Rank in 2016: #900
Births in 2016: 239

Freephotos.cc

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#25 Girl: Louise

Rank in the 1920s: #25
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,289.5
Rank in 2016: #897
Births in 2016: 309

Pexels

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#25 Boy: Ralph

Rank in the 1920s: #25
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,446.4
Rank in 2016: #992
Births in 2016: 204

Freephotos.cc

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#24 Girl: Lois

Rank in the 1920s: #24
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,813.
Rank in 2016: #1,753
Births in 2016: 118

Pexels

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#24 Boy: Eugene

Rank in the 1920s: #24
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,475.2
Rank in 2016: #788
Births in 2016: 298

Katrina Elena // Shutterstock

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#23 Girl: Barbara

Rank in the 1920s: #23
Average annual births in the 1920s: 9,721.2
Rank in 2016: #856
Births in 2016: 326

Min An // Pexels

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#23 Boy: Harry

Rank in the 1920s: #23
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,618.
Rank in 2016: #679
Births in 2016: 372

Tara Raye // Unsplash

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#22 Girl: Shirley

Rank in the 1920s: #22
Average annual births in the 1920s: 9,859.9
Rank in 2016: #1,388
Births in 2016: 168

PxHere

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#22 Boy: David

Rank in the 1920s: #22
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,875.1
Rank in 2016: #19
Births in 2016: 11,028

Omar Lopez // Unsplash

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#21 Girl: Rose

Rank in the 1920s: #21
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,530.7
Rank in 2016: #154
Births in 2016: 2,016

PxHere

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#21 Boy: Albert

Rank in the 1920s: #21
Average annual births in the 1920s: 9,442.6
Rank in 2016: #474
Births in 2016: 642

Myung-Won Seo // Unsplash

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#20 Girl: Florence

Rank in the 1920s: #20
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,829.5
Rank in 2016: #1,053
Births in 2016: 246

PxHere

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#20 Boy: Arthur

Rank in the 1920s: #20
Average annual births in the 1920s: 9,711.5
Rank in 2016: #273
Births in 2016: 1,333

doron rosenblum // Unsplash

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#19 Girl: Martha

Rank in the 1920s: #19
Average annual births in the 1920s: 8,678.4
Rank in 2016: #727
Births in 2016: 389

PxHere

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#19 Boy: Kenneth

Rank in the 1920s: #19
Average annual births in the 1920s: 9,949.1
Rank in 2016: #208
Births in 2016: 1,901

jens johnsson // Unsplash

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#18 Girl: Marjorie

Rank in the 1920s: #18
Average annual births in the 1920s: 9,122.1
Rank in 2016: #925
Births in 2016: 295

PxHere

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#18 Boy: Henry

Rank in the 1920s: #18
Average annual births in the 1920s: 10,455.3
Rank in 2016: #22
Births in 2016: 10,323

Katie Emslie // Unsplash

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#17 Girl: Irene

Rank in the 1920s: #17
Average annual births in the 1920s: 9,283.3
Rank in 2016: #656
Births in 2016: 444

PxHere

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#17 Boy: Jack

Rank in the 1920s: #17
Average annual births in the 1920s: 11,598.6
Rank in 2016: #38
Births in 2016: 8,367

Caroline Hernandex // Unsplash

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#16 Girl: Jean

Rank in the 1920s: #16
Average annual births in the 1920s: 10,599.6
Rank in 2016: #2,444
Births in 2016: 75

PxHere

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#16 Boy: Walter

Rank in the 1920s: #16
Average annual births in the 1920s: 11,981.2
Rank in 2016: #302
Births in 2016: 1,163

Wayne Dery // Unsplash

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#15 Girl: Marie

Rank in the 1920s: #15
Average annual births in the 1920s: 11,056.5
Rank in 2016: #583
Births in 2016: 526

PxHere

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#15 Boy: Raymond

Rank in the 1920s: #15
Average annual births in the 1920s: 12,421.2
Rank in 2016: #284
Births in 2016: 1,264

Leo Riva // Unsplash

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#14 Girl: Alice

Rank in the 1920s: #14
Average annual births in the 1920s: 11,052.2
Rank in 2016: #76
Births in 2016: 3,669

PxHere

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#14 Boy: Paul

Rank in the 1920s: #14
Average annual births in the 1920s: 13,238.5
Rank in 2016: #206
Births in 2016: 1,921

joel carter // Pexels

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#13 Girl: Anna

Rank in the 1920s: #13
Average annual births in the 1920s: 12,389.1
Rank in 2016: #51
Births in 2016: 4,749

PxHere

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#13 Boy: Harold

Rank in the 1920s: #13
Average annual births in the 1920s: 13,359.5
Rank in 2016: #803
Births in 2016: 285

Pexels

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#12 Girl: Evelyn

Rank in the 1920s: #12
Average annual births in the 1920s: 12,416.2
Rank in 2016: #12
Births in 2016: 10,060

Freephotos.cc

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#12 Boy: Frank

Rank in the 1920s: #12
Average annual births in the 1920s: 15,182.7
Rank in 2016: #353
Births in 2016: 951

Kha Ruxury // Pexels

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#11 Girl: Elizabeth

Rank in the 1920s: #11
Average annual births in the 1920s: 13,967.3
Rank in 2016: #13
Births in 2016: 9,493

Tomsickova Tatyana // Shutterstock

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#11 Boy: Thomas

Rank in the 1920s: #11
Average annual births in the 1920s: 16,110.9
Rank in 2016: #48
Births in 2016: 7,309

Pexels

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#10 Girl: Frances

Rank in the 1920s: #10
Average annual births in the 1920s: 14,038.7
Rank in 2016: #446
Births in 2016: 716

Freephotos.cc

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#10 Boy: Donald

Rank in the 1920s: #10
Average annual births in the 1920s: 19,182.
Rank in 2016: #488
Births in 2016: 621

Pixabay

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#9 Girl: Mildred

Rank in the 1920s: #9
Average annual births in the 1920s: 14,715.2
Rank in 2016: #2,388
Births in 2016: 78

Freephotos.cc

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#9 Boy: Edward

Rank in the 1920s: #9
Average annual births in the 1920s: 19,735.5
Rank in 2016: #163
Births in 2016: 2,491

PxHere

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#8 Girl: Doris

Rank in the 1920s: #8
Average annual births in the 1920s: 15,118.7
Rank in 2016: #1,759
Births in 2016: 117

Freephotos.cc

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#8 Boy: Richard

Rank in the 1920s: #8
Average annual births in the 1920s: 22,260.4
Rank in 2016: #160
Births in 2016: 2,499

PxHere

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#7 Girl: Virginia

Rank in the 1920s: #7
Average annual births in the 1920s: 16,955.1
Rank in 2016: #517
Births in 2016: 599

Stocksnap.io

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#7 Boy: Joseph

Rank in the 1920s: #7
Average annual births in the 1920s: 24,380.9
Rank in 2016: #20
Births in 2016: 10,823

Max Pixel

89 / 100

#6 Girl: Ruth

Rank in the 1920s: #6
Average annual births in the 1920s: 21,850.8
Rank in 2016: #299
Births in 2016: 1,081

Stocksnap.io

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#6 Boy: George

Rank in the 1920s: #6
Average annual births in the 1920s: 26,195.2
Rank in 2016: #125
Births in 2016: 3,288

riggleton // Shutterstock

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#5 Girl: Betty

Rank in the 1920s: #5
Average annual births in the 1920s: 28,308.7
Rank in 2016: #1,337
Births in 2016: 176

Nicole De Khors // Burst

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#5 Boy: Charles

Rank in the 1920s: #5
Average annual births in the 1920s: 29,803.
Rank in 2016: #51
Births in 2016: 7,050

PxHere

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#4 Girl: Margaret

Rank in the 1920s: #4
Average annual births in the 1920s: 24,500.6
Rank in 2016: #139
Births in 2016: 2,202

Photophin

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#4 Boy: William

Rank in the 1920s: #4
Average annual births in the 1920s: 51,239.4
Rank in 2016: #3
Births in 2016: 15,668

Max Pixel

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#3 Girl: Helen

Rank in the 1920s: #3
Average annual births in the 1920s: 29,039.7
Rank in 2016: #408
Births in 2016: 813

Photopin

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#3 Boy: James

Rank in the 1920s: #3
Average annual births in the 1920s: 51,530.4
Rank in 2016: #5
Births in 2016: 14,776

Public Domain

97 / 100

#2 Girl: Dorothy

Rank in the 1920s: #2
Average annual births in the 1920s: 36,886.5
Rank in 2016: #652
Births in 2016: 448

Photopin

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#2 Boy: John

Rank in the 1920s: #2
Average annual births in the 1920s: 56,406.6
Rank in 2016: #28
Births in 2016: 9,952

PxHere

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#1 Girl: Mary

Rank in the 1920s: #1
Average annual births in the 1920s: 70,173.9
Rank in 2016: #127
Births in 2016: 2,487

Photopin

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#1 Boy: Robert

Rank in the 1920s: #1
Average annual births in the 1920s: 57,635.5
Rank in 2016: #62
Births in 2016: 5,953