Most popular baby names a century ago

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While names like Luna and Oliver rule the charts these days (for both new babies and new pets), 1922 looked a little different.

According to data from BabyNames.it, plenty of parents chose timeless classics for their infants that year: John took the top spot for boys, followed by Robert, William, James, and Charles. For girls, Mary was number one; Elizabeth, Anna, and Marie all finished within the top 15. If there's one thing that hasn't changed over the last century, it's the popularity of female names that start with E — Elizabeth, Evelyn, Emma, and Eleanor made 1922's top 50 and 2021's top 50.

Though you won't find Ella, Emily, Elena, or Everly on the former list, you will find Edna, Ethel, Edith, Esther, and many more monikers that we'd now consider "old lady names," from Mildred to Gertrude. Similarly, male names like Earl, Albert, and Eugene — which we now associate with older men — were deemed perfect for bouncing baby boys.

Some entries reflect naming trends from the past. Virginia, for example, follows the fad of naming babies after states. And Ruby illustrates 20th-century parents' affinity for choosing jewels or other words that embodied opulence. Others could turn up in Generation Alpha more than you'd expect. Betty, Frank, and Ralph were still popular into the 1950s — an era from which today's Millennial parents are borrowing names.

See 1922's top 50 girls' and top 50 boys' names below, and find out what just missed the cut-off here.

MOST POPULAR BABY GIRL NAMES FROM 1922

1. Mary
2. Dorothy
3. Helen
4. Margaret
5. Ruth
6. Betty
7. Virginia
8. Mildred
9. Elizabeth
10. Frances
11. Doris
12. Anna
13. Evelyn
14. Marie
15. Alice
16. Marjorie
17. Irene
18. Florence
19. Lillian
20. Jean
21. Martha
22. Louise
23. Rose
24. Catherine
25. Gladys
26. Ruby
27. Eleanor
28. Josephine
29. Edna
30. Annie
31. Ethel
32. Thelma
33. Lucille
34. Edith
35. Lois
36. Pauline
37. Hazel
38. Grace
39. Shirley
40. Barbara
41. Bernice
42. Marion
43. Beatrice
44. Esther
45. June
46. Norma
47. Clara
48. Gertrude
49. Ann
50. Emma

MOST POPULAR BABY BOY NAMES FROM 1922

1. John
2. Robert
3. William
4. James
5. Charles
6. George
7. Joseph
8. Edward
9. Richard
10. Frank
11. Thomas
12. Donald
13. Harold
14. Paul
15. Walter
16. Raymond
17. Henry
18. Jack
19. Arthur
20. Albert
21. Kenneth
22. Harry
23. Ralph
24. Eugene
25. David
26. Howard
27. Louis
28. Willie
29. Clarence
30. Carl
31. Earl
32. Roy
33. Fred
34. Francis
35. Joe
36. Lawrence
37. Ernest
38. Leonard
39. Anthony
40. Herbert
41. Stanley
42. Alfred
43. Samuel
44. Norman
45. Warren
46. Bernard
47. Daniel
48. Michael
49. Russell
50. Melvin