Screenwriting guide
1920s Names: Most Popular Names of the 1920s
The most popular names from the 1920s were Mary, Dorothy, Helen, Betty and Margaret for girls, and Robert, John, James, William and Charles for boys, from Social Security birth records. Mary was #1 every year of the decade. Robert passed John in 1924 and kept #1 to 1929.
Written and reviewed by ScriptLix Editorial
What the records show
Mary
#1 for girls every year from 1920 to 1929, all 10 years.
Robert
#1 for boys in 6 of the 10 years from 1920 to 1929. The rest: John 4.
701,756
Babies named Mary in the 1920s SSA records, the most of any girl’s name.
576,375
Babies named Robert in the 1920s SSA records, the most of any boy’s name.
36
Girls’ names that reached the top 100 in the 1920s and sit outside the top 1000 in both the 2010s and 2020s.
22
Boys’ names that reached the top 100 in the 1920s and sit outside the top 1000 in both the 2010s and 2020s.
The top 100 names of the 1920s
Women
| Mary | #1 | 701,756 | 1880s | #133 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dorothy | #2 | 368,876 | 1920s | #486 |
| Helen | #3 | 290,403 | 1900s | #421 |
| Betty | #4 | 283,097 | 1930s | #1,138 |
| Margaret | #5 | 245,010 | 1890s | #128 |
| Ruth | #6 | 218,521 | 1900s | #189 |
| Virginia | #7 | 169,554 | 1920s | #549 |
| Doris | #8 | 151,192 | 1920s | #2,302 |
| Mildred | #9 | 147,155 | 1910s | #1,942 |
| Frances | #10 | 140,391 | 1910s | #399 |
| Elizabeth | #11 | 139,672 | 1880s | #14 |
| Evelyn | #12 | 124,166 | 2020s | #9 |
| Anna | #13 | 123,894 | 1880s | #78 |
| Marie | #14 | 110,564 | 1900s | #621 |
| Alice | #15 | 110,526 | 1880s | #65 |
| Jean | #16 | 105,999 | 1920s | #2,402 |
| Shirley | #17 | 98,601 | 1930s | #1,584 |
| Barbara | #18 | 97,210 | 1930s | #896 |
| Irene | #19 | 92,836 | 1910s | #654 |
| Marjorie | #20 | 91,221 | 1920s | #1,111 |
| Florence | #21 | 88,295 | 1890s | #589 |
| Lois | #22 | 88,133 | 1930s | #1,712 |
| Martha | #23 | 86,788 | 1880s | #715 |
| Rose | #24 | 85,305 | 1910s | #120 |
| Lillian | #25 | 83,159 | 1900s | #51 |
Men
| Robert | #1 | 576,375 | 1920s | #81 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John | #2 | 564,051 | 1880s | #24 |
| James | #3 | 515,302 | 1940s | #5 |
| William | #4 | 512,402 | 1880s | #6 |
| Charles | #5 | 298,031 | 1880s | #50 |
| George | #6 | 261,946 | 1880s | #137 |
| Joseph | #7 | 243,809 | 1910s | #27 |
| Richard | #8 | 222,598 | 1930s | #219 |
| Edward | #9 | 197,347 | 1910s | #215 |
| Donald | #10 | 191,817 | 1930s | #639 |
| Thomas | #11 | 161,109 | 1940s | #46 |
| Frank | #12 | 151,830 | 1880s | #454 |
| Harold | #13 | 133,585 | 1910s | #942 |
| Paul | #14 | 132,384 | 1910s | #253 |
| Raymond | #15 | 124,213 | 1920s | #343 |
| Walter | #16 | 119,809 | 1910s | #269 |
| Jack | #17 | 115,983 | 2020s | #14 |
| Henry | #18 | 104,552 | 2020s | #7 |
| Kenneth | #19 | 99,490 | 1930s | #260 |
| Arthur | #20 | 97,112 | 1880s | #139 |
| Albert | #21 | 94,432 | 1880s | #585 |
| David | #22 | 88,737 | 1960s | #29 |
| Harry | #23 | 86,183 | 1890s | #739 |
| Eugene | #24 | 84,755 | 1920s | #882 |
| Ralph | #25 | 84,466 | 1910s | #1,145 |
Generate a full name for a character born in the 1920s
Born in the 1920s, first names from that decade’s SSA top 200.
Surnames are common US Census surnames. Tap a name to keep it, then reroll the other half.
- peak 2010s
- peak 1910s
- peak 1900s
- peak 1880s
- peak 1890s
- peak 1920s
- peak 1930s
- peak 1900s
- peak 1960s
- peak 1880s
For writers: names that date a character
Time markers reached the top 100 in the 1920s, had their best decade ever there, and rank below #300 today. Traps are today’s top 100 names that were outside the top 1000, or missing from the records, throughout the 1920s.
Women
Names that place a character in time
- Dorothy
- Virginia
- Doris
- Jean
- Marjorie
- Marion
- Rita
- Lorraine
- Juanita
- Wilma
- Marian
- Maxine
Anachronism traps
- Mia #6 nownot recorded then
- Harper #10 nownot recorded then
- Luna #11 nowbest #1,202 then
- Camila #12 nowbest #4,307 then
- Gianna #16 nownot recorded then
- Scarlett #17 nownot recorded then
- Abigail #18 nowbest #1,404 then
- Avery #22 nowbest #2,345 then
- Aria #23 nowbest #4,571 then
- Mila #24 nowbest #2,106 then
- Layla #30 nownot recorded then
- Madison #33 nownot recorded then
Men
Names that place a character in time
- Raymond
- Eugene
- Howard
- Leonard
- Bernard
- Melvin
- Marvin
- Warren
- Leroy
- Vernon
- Alvin
- Wallace
Anachronism traps
- Liam #1 nownot recorded then
- Lucas #8 nowbest #1,111 then
- Mateo #11 nowbest #2,035 then
- Ethan #18 nowbest #1,569 then
- Asher #23 nowbest #2,125 then
- Hudson #31 nowbest #1,153 then
- Aiden #32 nownot recorded then
- Luca #37 nowbest #4,216 then
- Grayson #38 nowbest #1,408 then
- Dylan #39 nownot recorded then
- Maverick #43 nownot recorded then
- Jayden #47 nownot recorded then
How to use it
- 1
Scan the ranked table for the 1920s and sort it by rank, births or where a name sits today. Copy the list if you want it.
- 2
Use the generator to pair real first names from that decade with common US surnames. Tap a half to keep it and reroll the rest.
- 3
Check the anachronism traps before you commit, so a modern name does not give your period character away.
Which names say 1920s?
The ones that peaked then. Dorothy, Virginia, Doris, Jean and Marjorie all had their best decade ever in the 1920s and sit below #300 today, so on the page they point straight at a woman born in that decade. For men, Raymond, Eugene, Howard, Leonard and Bernard did the same.
Mary and Robert are the most common, but they are common in many decades. If you want a name that dates a character, pick from the signature list below rather than the top five.
Should a 1920s story use 1920s names?
Only for the characters born then. In a story set in 1925, the adults were born around 1880 to 1905, so their names come from the Victorian and early 1900s lists. A child or a flapper in her early twenties would carry a name from the 1900s, and only babies would have 1920s names.
That is the most common naming mistake in period scripts. Match the name to the birth year, not the year the story is set.
Which modern names would be wrong in the 1920s?
Liam, the #1 boys’ name of the 2020s, does not appear in the 1920s records at all, which means fewer than five boys a year were given it. Harper, Mia and Aiden are missing too. The full list of traps is below, each checked against the 1920s data.
Names by era
Questions writers ask
What were the most popular names in the 1920s?
For girls: Mary, Dorothy, Helen, Betty and Margaret. For boys: Robert, John, James, William and Charles. Totals are births recorded by Social Security from 1920 to 1929.
What was the #1 boy name in the 1920s?
Robert, over the decade as a whole. John was #1 from 1920 to 1923, then Robert took over from 1924 and held it every year to 1929.
What are some unique 1920s girl names?
Doris, Marjorie, Lorraine, Juanita, Wilma and Maxine were top 100 in the 1920s, peaked in that decade, and are rare today.
Were names like Liam or Harper used in the 1920s?
Almost never. Neither appears in the 1920s Social Security records, which list every name given to at least five babies in a year.
Is this US data?
Yes. All ranks come from US Social Security Administration baby name records.