The list of the most popular baby names in the U.S. doesn’t change dramatically from one year to the next, but some interesting shifts and trends emerge over longer stretches of time.
Some popular picks fall off the map, while others dip down to the bottom only to make a comeback later. And then there are the classics that remain popular to this day.
Knowing the Social Security Administration’s baby names database goes back to the 1880s, we decided to take a look at parents’ choices 100 years ago to see which ones tanked and which have serious staying power.
Below, find the 25 most popular baby names for boys and for girls born in 1925. While James, William, Elizabeth and Evelyn are still popular a century later, others like Mildred, Lois, Ralph and Doris aren’t quite as common these days.
Girls
- Mary
- Dorothy
- Betty
- Helen
- Margaret
- Ruth
- Virginia
- Doris
- Mildred
- Elizabeth
- Frances
- Evelyn
- Anna
- Jean
- Alice
- Marie
- Shirley
- Lois
- Irene
- Gloria
- Marjorie
- Barbara
- Martha
- Florence
- Lillian
Boys
- Robert
- John
- William
- James
- Charles
- George
- Joseph
- Richard
- Edward
- Donald
- Thomas
- Frank
- Paul
- Harold
- Raymond
- Walter
- Jack
- Henry
- Kenneth
- Arthur
- Albert
- David
- Harry
- Eugene
- Ralph