What 1926 Sounded Like — Top Names From 100 Years Ago
A century is the natural unit of baby-name fashion. Most names that were ubiquitous in 1926 are gone today; a few are right back at the top. We pulled every name that finished in the US top 100 in 1926 and split them into two piles.
Still strong — top-100 names from 1926 that are also in the modern top 100
Boys:
| Name | 1926 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Theodore | #63 | #4 |
| James | #3 | #5 |
| Henry | #19 | #6 |
| William | #4 | #10 |
| Benjamin | #98 | #11 |
| Jack | #16 | #15 |
| Daniel | #46 | #16 |
| Samuel | #48 | #17 |
| Michael | #56 | #18 |
| John | #2 | #21 |
| Leo | #54 | #24 |
| David | #22 | #31 |
| Joseph | #8 | #32 |
| Thomas | #11 | #39 |
| Anthony | #42 | #44 |
| Charles | #5 | #51 |
| Andrew | #59 | #68 |
| Robert | #1 | #90 |
Girls:
| Name | 1926 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Emma | #59 | #2 |
| Charlotte | #78 | #4 |
| Evelyn | #13 | #8 |
| Eleanor | #32 | #14 |
| Violet | #94 | #15 |
| Elizabeth | #11 | #17 |
| Hazel | #48 | #19 |
| Ella | #98 | #30 |
| Grace | #46 | #40 |
| Lillian | #28 | #54 |
| Josephine | #37 | #56 |
| Alice | #17 | #62 |
| Ruby | #30 | #63 |
| Vivian | #80 | #77 |
| Clara | #61 | #78 |
| Audrey | #60 | #82 |
| Anna | #15 | #94 |
| Sarah | #63 | #95 |
Eighteen names per side — a remarkable amount of continuity. Five of the 1926 girls' top 20 (Emma, Charlotte, Evelyn, Eleanor, Violet) are now in the modern top 20.
Forgotten — top-100 names from 1926 that have effectively disappeared
Boys (1926 rank → 2024 rank):
- Bill #74 → #4,572
- Willard #100 → #3,034
- Herman #69 → #2,641
- Herbert #44 → #2,482
- Floyd #53 → #2,169
- Earl #32 → #2,152
- Gene #91 → #1,905
- Don #96 → #1,789
- Lloyd #60 → #1,766
- Fred #31 → #1,686
Girls:
- Phyllis #33 → unranked in 2024
- Bessie #89 → unranked
- Wanda #66 → unranked
- Ethel #41 → #4,915
- Bertha #76 → #4,775
- Gertrude #71 → #4,683
- Thelma #36 → #4,446
- Wilma #67 → #4,100
- Bernice #45 → #3,821
- Pauline #39 → #3,475
So what crosses the century gap?
The names that survived a hundred years share a few traits:
- Biblical or saintly roots. James, John, Joseph, Daniel, Samuel, Benjamin, Anna, Elizabeth, Sarah. These bounce around the top 100 every century.
- Easy sounds, no awkward consonants. Emma, Evelyn, Grace, Theodore, Leo. The names with hard mid-word consonant clusters (Bertha, Gertrude, Willard) didn't make it.
- They feel "old" in a romantic rather than dated way. Hazel and Violet are old-fashioned but evocative; Ethel and Phyllis are old-fashioned and tired. The line between the two is mostly sound — vowel-rich vs. consonant-heavy.
The 1926 chart was Robert and Mary at #1. Robert is now #90, Mary #132. They haven't disappeared — but if you'd told a 1926 parent that Emma and Theodore would top the 2024 chart, they'd have raised an eyebrow. Fashion comes back, but never to exactly the same place.
For the broader vintage angle, see our 1920s comeback post, or browse the 1920s decade page directly.
Data: U.S. Social Security Administration 1926 and 2024 releases. "Unranked" means fewer than five US births that year — the SSA's privacy cutoff.