Top-Ten-Then Girls: Shirley, Bertha and Bessie
By Linda Rosenkrantz
When you hear the phrase ‘Top 10 girls’ name,’ you might tend to think of classics like Mary and Elizabeth, or later long-running favorites Jennifer and Jessica, or the current Sophia. But it certainly wouldn’t be Bertha—which in fact was in that golden group for twelve years– or Mildred, up there for close to a quarter of a century.
I became curious about what became of these once mega-popular appellations, whose top positions lasted from 37 years to being one-time-wonders (bearing in mind that they well might have been top-ranked for years before the SSA started keeping figures in 1880), particularly those that were once in the Top 10 but now reside outside the Top 500, thus eliminating evergreens like, yes, Mary and Elizabeth that have retained their popularity. You might find a few surprises here–unless you’ve known a lot of Tammys and Tracys in your life.
The following are those former Top 10 girls’ names that are no longer even in the higher half of the Social Security list, arranged in descending order by the number of their Top 10 years and pinpointing exactly when they reached their highest positions.
In the Top 10 for:
37 years Patricia— was as high as Number 3 for 13 years between 1937 and 1952; is now 680
35 years Dorothy—Number 2 for 8 years between 1920 and 1927; now 808
31 years Barbara— Number 2 from 1937 to 1944; now 838
25 years Linda— The top girls’ name from 1947 to 1952; now 643
23 years Mildred— Reached 6th place for 8 years between 1912 and 1929
Betty— Number 2 for 7 years from 1928 to 1934; now 907
Susan— Number 2 from 1957 to 1960; now 844
21 years Nancy— Highest ranking was Number 6 in 1950; now 689
20 years Florence—Number 6 for 5 years between 1890 and 1899; now 955
Marie — The French version of Mary reached 8th place twice, in 1899 and 1902; is now Number 573
16 years Ethel— Peaked at Number 6 in 1896, now 889
Sandra— Was Number 5 in 1947, now766
15 years Frances—Was Number 8 in 1918, now 693
Heather— Heather is one of the later entries to the Top 10, reaching Number 3 in 1975, now 837
Lisa— The top name from 1962 to 1969, now has fallen to 773
14 years Shirley— Influenced by the popularity of little Shirley Temple, she was Number 2 in 1935 and 1936; now 907
Carol— Number 4 in 1941, now 972
13 years Virginia—Number 6 in 1921, now551
Deborah—Number 2 in 1955, now 814
12 years Minnie— Number 5 for 5 years between 1880 and 1886, off the Top 1000 since 1971
Bertha — Number 7 for 3 years in the 1880s; off the list since1985
11 years Donna — Number 5 in 1959 and 1960, fell off in 2010
10 years Doris — Number 6 in 1929, off since 1992
9 years Joan— Number 5 from 1931 to 1933, off since1993
8 years Ida— Number 7 for 5 years between 1880 and 1886, off since 1986
Judith— Number 4 in 1940, now 996
Debra— Number 2 in 1956, off since 1998
7 years Sharon— Number 8 in 1943, now at 882
Tammy— Number 8 for 5 years between 1966 and 1971, off since 1998
4 years Kathleen Number 9 in 1949, now at 664
2 years Bessie— Number 9 in 1889, off since 1975
1 year Carolyn—Number 10 in 1942, now at 791
Pamela— Number 10 in 1953, off since 2011
Lori— Number 8 in 1963, off since 2001
Tracy— Number 10 in 1970, off since 2004
Of course there are a significant number of early Top 10ers that are alive and well, such as Emma (Number 3 in 1880 Number 2 in 2013), Clara, Alice, Helen, Ruth, Lillian, and Evelyn, as well as dozens of more recent ones, including Karen, Cynthia and Crystal that still rank in the Top 500.
Which, if any, of the former Top-10-Then girls do you think could ever scale those heights again? Would it be affected by the length or date of their earlier popularity?