Vintage Baby Names
Names that ranked in the U.S. top 300 between 1900 and 1930 and are outside the top 1000 today. 64 names.
How names qualify
A name is listed when it ranked in the top 300 for its sex in the U.S. in at least one year from 1900 to 1930, is outside the top 1,000 in 2024 for every sex it is recorded under, and has a documented meaning in our data. Names are ordered by their best rank in 1900-1930.
126 more names pass the ranking test but are not listed because our data has no usable meaning for them yet: only a placeholder, a pointer to another spelling, or a gloss from the Muslim-names dataset, which describes a different name that shares the spelling.
Ranks and births are SSA national data: see the source note under the table.
4 names were removed after manual review.
Each row shows the meaning recorded for that name in our data. A name can have other meanings and other origins.
Vintage Baby Names
| Name | Meaning | Origin | Gender | U.S. rank then and now |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Betty | Diminutive of Elizabeth, which means “my God is an oath” | English | Girl | #2 in 1928; #1,008 in 2024 |
| Patricia | noble | Latin | Girl | #7 in 1930; #1,298 in 2024 |
| Joan | God is gracious | French | Girl | #8 in 1930; #1,237 in 2024 |
| Edna | pleasure; delight | Hebrew | Girl | #12 in 1900; #2,049 in 2024 |
| Clarence | from the town of Clare | English | Boy | #17 in 1901; #1,558 in 2024 |
| Joyce | lord | Celtic | Girl | #18 in 1930; #1,041 in 2024 |
| Carl | free man | Germanic | Boy | #22 in 1915; #1,032 in 2024 |
| Howard | high, guard | Germanic | Boy | #24 in 1919; #1,054 in 2024 |
| Ernest | vigor, strife | Germanic | Boy | #28 in 1901; #1,083 in 2024 |
| Gerald | spear, might, power | Germanic | Boy | #30 in 1930; #1,166 in 2024 |
| Donna | Feminine form of Donald, which means “prince / chief of the world” | Italian | Girl | #37 in 1930; #1,934 in 2024 |
| Agnes | pure, chaste, purity, chastity | Ancient Greek | Girl | #39 in 1901; #1,063 in 2024 |
| Ann | anna, hannah, grace, gracious, graced with child | Hebrew | Girl | #40 in 1914; #1,141 in 2024 |
| Bobby | Diminutive of Robert, which means “shining glory” | English | Boy | #41 in 1930; #1,123 in 2024 |
| Viola | violet | Latin | Girl | #42 in 1908; #1,188 in 2024 |
| Herman | army, man | Germanic | Boy | #47 in 1904; #2,627 in 2024 |
| Juanita | God is gracious | Spanish | Girl | #48 in 1924; #2,573 in 2024 |
| Lloyd | grey, grey-haired | English | Boy | #51 in 1918; #1,761 in 2024 |
| Chester | a town or city, especially a Roman one | English | Boy | #53 in 1919; #1,648 in 2024 |
| Clifford | cliff, ford | English | Boy | #57 in 1909; #1,340 in 2024 |
| Gene | Diminutive of Eugene, which means “well born” | English | Boy | #62 in 1928; #1,900 in 2024 |
| Milton | mill, middle, settlement | English | Boy | #64 in 1912; #1,426 in 2024 |
| Cecil | blind | English | Boy | #65 in 1902; #1,476 in 2024 |
| Gordon | of gordon (berwickshire), son of muirneachán | English | Boy | #72 in 1925; #1,087 in 2024 |
| Alton | river source, settlement, town | English | Boy | #78 in 1904; #1,566 in 2024 |
| Marguerite | pearl | French | Girl | #78 in 1913; #2,400 in 2024 |
| Morris | descendant, maurice | English | Boy | #82 in 1912; #1,859 in 2024 |
| Arnold | eagle, power | Germanic | Boy | #89 in 1916; #1,680 in 2024 |
| May | maia's month | English | Girl | #91 in 1900; #1,350 in 2024 |
| Irving | fresh, river | English | Boy | #93 in 1911; #1,613 in 2024 |
| Lizzie | Diminutive of Elizabeth, which means “my God is an oath” | English | Girl | #103 in 1900; #2,319 in 2024 |
| Geneva | juniper tree | English | Girl | #106 in 1920; #1,601 in 2024 |
| Steve | crown, wreath | English | Boy | #108 in 1916; #1,680 in 2024 |
| Dan | Diminutive of Daniel, which means “God is my judge” | Hebrew | Boy | #120 in 1900; #1,913 in 2024 |
| Duane | black, dark | English | Boy | #120 in 1930; #2,070 in 2024 |
| Mike | Diminutive of Michael, which means “who is like God?” | English | Boy | #125 in 1916; #1,009 in 2024 |
| Janice | God is gracious | English | Girl | #126 in 1930; #2,243 in 2024 |
| Edmund | prosperity, protection | Old English | Boy | #130 in 1914; #1,180 in 2024 |
| Dave | Diminutive of David, which means “beloved” | English | Boy | #135 in 1900; #2,007 in 2024 |
| Sylvester | woody, rural, wood | Latin | Boy | #138 in 1901; #2,092 in 2024 |
| Clifton | cliff, town | English | Boy | #144 in 1915; #1,744 in 2024 |
| Perry | Diminutive of Peregrine, which means “foreigner” | English | Boy | #148 in 1900; #1,239 in 2024 |
| Clinton | enclosure, homestead, town | English | Boy | #149 in 1909; #1,930 in 2024 |
| Janie | Diminutive of Jane, which means “God is gracious” | English | Girl | #163 in 1901; #1,537 in 2024 |
| Roscoe | forest | English | Boy | #170 in 1901; #2,164 in 2024 |
| Pete | Diminutive of Peter, which means “stone, rock” | English | Boy | #173 in 1908; #3,036 in 2024 |
| Belle | beautiful | French | Girl | #181 in 1900; #1,004 in 2024 |
| Selma | good vision | English | Girl | #181 in 1901; #2,766 in 2024 |
| Ross | heath, headland | English | Boy | #185 in 1902; #1,359 in 2024 |
| Charlene | Feminine form of Charles, which means “free man” | Germanic | Girl | #195 in 1930; #1,746 in 2024 |
| Laurence | laurel | Latin | Boy | #201 in 1903; #2,184 in 2024 |
| Murray | sea, settlement | English | Boy | #206 in 1922; #2,705 in 2024 |
| Rodney | hrōdanīeġ, hrōdanīġ, fame, island | English | Boy | #208 in 1930; #1,083 in 2024 |
| Annette | grace, gracious | French | Girl | #215 in 1923; #1,303 in 2024 |
| Boyd | blond, yellow, fair | English | Boy | #248 in 1922; #2,206 in 2024 |
| Corinne | girl, maiden, daughter | Ancient Greek | Girl | #249 in 1926; #1,090 in 2024 |
| Wilmer | mind, will, determination, purpose, desire, wish, famous | English | Boy | #256 in 1915; #1,829 in 2024 |
| Clement | merciful | Latin | Boy | #266 in 1912; #2,254 in 2024 |
| Sheldon | shelf, hill, valley | English | Boy | #276 in 1928; #1,949 in 2024 |
| Elton | eel, farm, village, prince, estate | Old English | Boy | #278 in 1915; #2,070 in 2024 |
| Odessa | seven titles | English | Girl | #278 in 1908; #1,576 in 2024 |
| Elvin | Variant of Alvin, which means “elf friend” | English | Boy | #284 in 1927; #1,505 in 2024 |
| Merlin | sea, stronghold, rampart | English | Boy | #287 in 1927; #2,070 in 2024 |
| Sharon | the sharon plain | Hebrew | Girl | #288 in 1930; #1,229 in 2024 |
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Popular Baby Names (national data, 1880-2024). Counts are Social Security card applications for births in the United States; names with fewer than 5 births in a year are not listed, and spelling variants are counted separately. Baby Name Wizard is not affiliated with or endorsed by the SSA.