Baby Names: Once so hot, now so not
The history of baby names is littered with former stars that burned brightly for a decade or two, only to fade from view.
It’s hard to believe, from this vantage point, that Gladys or Edna ever made the Top 20, that names such as Harold or Larry were ever popular enough to dominate an entire decade.
It’s difficult to see Irene and Albert as the Isabella and Alexander of their day, to view Tammy or Tiffany as the height of cool.
Many of these once-hot names are lovely, even classic. They’re just not as stylish as they once were (although some, especially from the earlier decades, are on their way back in).
We looked at the Top 25 baby names for each decade of the 20th century to pick out choices that were hot back them, and are not today. Included here are Old People Names like Bertha and Clarence, Baby Boomer names such as Karen and Gary, today’s mom and dad names such as Jennifer and Jason, and names like Taylor and Tyler that are beginning to be heard much more often on babysitters than on babies.
Our choices, with their ranking for the decade when they were most popular:
1900s
girls
Mary, #1Helen, #2Margaret, #3Anna, #4Ruth, #5Dorothy, #7Marie, #8Florence, #9Mildred, #10Gladys, #14Bertha, #20
boys
George, #4Robert, #6Frank, #8Willie, #14Clarence, #17
1910s
girls
Frances, #9Virginia, #10Irene, #17Edna, #19Gladys. #21
boys
Walter, #11Harold, #12Paul, #14Raymond, #16Albert, #17Arthur, #18
1920s
girls
Betty, #4Doris, #8Jean, #16Shirley, #17Lois, #22
boys
Kenneth, #19
1930s
girls
Barbara, #3Shirley, #4Joan, #7Joyce, #12Marilyn, #16Beverly, #20
boys
Jack, #18Billy, #20Gerald, #21
1940s
girls
Linda, #2Carol, #5Sandra, #6Nancy, #7Sharon, #8Judith, #9
boys
Ronald, #10Donald, #12Gary, #14Jerry, #19
1950s
girls
Patricia, #3Susan, #4Deborah, #5 and Debra, #7Karen, #8Donna, #10
boys
Richard, #7Mark, #9Larry, #18Steven, #11 and Stephen, #20
1960s
girls
Lisa, #1Kimberly, #5Michelle, #9Cynthia, #10Tammy, #13Lori, #15Brenda, #19
boys
Michael, #1Jeffrey, #10Timothy, #13Kevin, #14Scott, #15
1970s
girls
Jennifer, #1Amy, #2Melissa, #3Angela, #7Heather, #8
boys
1980s
Jessica, #1Amanda, #3Stephanie, #6Nicole, #8Tiffany, #11Amber, #13
boys
Joshua, #4Justin, #12Ryan, #14
1990s
girls
Ashley, #2Brittany, #7Taylor, #9Megan, #10Kayla, #12
boys
Andrew, #7Tyler, #9Brandon, #11Austin, #22
Illustration from the hilarious Awkward Family Photos.