Naming a child is an important task. A name is an important part of one’s identity, is the word that helps us stand out from the rest. Names have a heritage of themselves, whether we are named after a grandparent, a famous artist, or a fictional character, our names are neither random nor naive.
Besides the intention of the person that named us, is the etymology or the history that that name carries before us. Here is a list of the 10 most popular names (for girls and boys) in America over the past 100 years, according to the SSA.
- Charles/Karen
Charles remains within the top 50 most common names for boys even though it had its peak in 1947; a name of kings, dog breeds, and many men in America. On the other hand, Karen was a very popular name in the 1950s and 1960s although it may be experiencing a serious drop since it became a meme in recent years.
- Thomas/Sarah
A name that goes well with celebrities and English muffins, Thomas remains still as one of the 50 most common baby names of the century, showing that classic is still trendy. Sharing that place for the girls is Sarah with its debate about that “h” at the end. Since the early 1980s, Sarah is gaining power among newborns.
- Joseph/Jessica
With a biblical background, the classic Joseph still tops the charts, being the 24th most popular name in 2019. Jessica, on the other hand, has had its ups and downs, starting at 963rd in 1918 and reaching third place in the 1980s now it’s experiencing a new dip, but it surely will rise up again sooner than later.
- Richard/Susan
A name so common that led up to the phrase “every Tom, Dick, and Harry” to mean “everyone”, Richard is often abbreviated as Dick because of a miswritten “Rick” in the Middle Ages. The name Susan has seen better days in terms of its popularity, however, its reign was strong enough during the 1950s and 1960s so it remains between the most popular of the last 100 years.
- David/Barbara
A name associated with arts and the Bible, David counts more than 3 million people with that name in the past 100 years. Barbara is another of those girl names that seems to be withering but had a good-old run in the middle of the 20th century.
William/Elizabeth
We enter the royalty with these two names. Not only because of princes being named like this but also because William is still a very popular name, being the 4th in popularity in 2019. Elizabeth, on the other hand, still has immense swells of popularity. In 2017 alone there were 9000 kids named Elizabeth and it was the 14th most popular name in 2019.Michael/Linda
Two of the biggest celebrities in the world have made the name Michael very famous and surely have helped to its popularity. Is it a coincidence that its peak of popularity was in the 1950s when Michael Jackson was born? Linda had a good run in the 1940s and has accumulated around 1.5 million newborns named like that, but it is in a slump right now.
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- Robert/Jennifer
Did you know that at some point Roberts were not only called Rob, but also Dob and Hob? We can only imagine that that’s what happens when a name is as popular as Robert has come to be. Right now, newborn Jennifers are not that common, but in the 1970s its popularity was so high that it was called a pandemic. The pandemic of Jennifers.
John/Patricia
In 1918, John was the most popular baby name for boys and since then it has held strong at the top, maybe helped by the fact that it is the name that is given to those whose names are unknown or withheld. Patricia comes from the Latin word patrician, which means noble. This noble name was in the top 10 for almost three decades and that’s why it is one of the most popular ones of the century.James/Mary
James is one of the most consistent names on this list, being on the top 5 of baby-boy names for a great deal of the past century. If there’s a name that stands the test of time it is Mary. It was the number one choice in 1918 and held that position throughout 1946. It still remains one of the favorite choices.