Silent Generation Names: The Names Most Likely to Be in the Silent Generation

Silent Generation were born 1928 to 1945, so in 2026 they're 81 to 98 years old. These are the names whose living owners are most likely to be in the Silent Generation: the share of everyone alive with the name who was born in those years.

42% of living Caroles and 22% of living Bobs are in the Silent Generation. Names this concentrated make it easy to guess someone's generation from a name tag.

Silent Generation girl names

Silent Generation girl names
#	Name	Silent	Average age
1	Carole	42%	75
2	Betty	41%	76
3	Dolores	40%	74
4	Wilma	40%	75
5	Mildred	39%	74
6	Ethel	38%	76
7	Thelma	37%	74
8	Doris	36%	75
9	Shirley	36%	75
10	Patsy	36%	75
11	Dorothy	36%	72
12	Lois	36%	75
13	Geraldine	35%	72
14	Florence	34%	66
15	Joan	34%	73
16	Delores	33%	74
17	Bernice	32%	70
18	Agnes	32%	64
19	Edna	31%	70
20	Gladys	31%	68
21	Marjorie	30%	69
22	Harriet	30%	66
23	Louise	30%	69
24	Judith	30%	72
25	Margie	30%	72
26	Nellie	29%	58
27	Helen	29%	66
28	Phyllis	29%	74
29	Pauline	29%	69
30	Bertha	28%	69
31	Norma	28%	69
32	Frances	28%	67
33	Viola	27%	61
34	Joyce	27%	72
35	Arlene	26%	66
36	Maxine	26%	60
37	Ida	26%	65
38	Marilyn	26%	69
39	Kay	25%	71
40	Mattie	25%	57
41	Barbara	24%	72
42	Virginia	24%	66
43	Lucille	24%	52
44	Ruth	24%	62
45	Jean	23%	69
46	Marian	23%	64
47	Carol	23%	72
48	Geneva	23%	59
49	Eunice	23%	58
50	Lillie	22%	54

Silent Generation boy names

Silent Generation boy names
#	Name	Silent	Average age
1	Bob	22%	70
2	Jimmie	22%	65
3	Fred	21%	67
4	Gene	19%	65
5	Harold	19%	66
6	Elmer	19%	56
7	Bill	19%	68
8	Herbert	18%	65
9	Norman	18%	64
10	Bennie	18%	63
11	Leroy	18%	62
12	Willie	17%	64
13	Cecil	17%	62
14	Floyd	17%	64
15	Harry	17%	62
16	Don	17%	65
17	Herman	17%	63
18	Earl	17%	64
19	Eugene	16%	63
20	Clyde	16%	60
21	Gerald	16%	64
22	Claude	16%	64
23	Clarence	16%	62
24	Ralph	16%	65
25	Howard	16%	65
26	Virgil	16%	60
27	Chester	16%	62
28	Arnold	15%	61
29	Wallace	15%	58
30	Harvey	15%	51
31	Earnest	15%	62
32	Lloyd	15%	62
33	Jerry	14%	63
34	Jim	14%	66
35	Lester	14%	62
36	Billy	14%	61
37	Freddie	14%	61
38	Alfred	14%	60
39	Donald	14%	64
40	Francis	14%	57
41	Joe	14%	61
42	Bernard	14%	61
43	Walter	13%	58
44	Gordon	13%	61
45	Morris	13%	59
46	Vernon	13%	61
47	Melvin	13%	59
48	George	13%	57
49	Bobby	13%	60
50	Tom	13%	66

How these lists work

Names with at least 20,000 people estimated alive, split into girl and boy names (at least 70% of living people with the name are one sex), and ranked by the share of living people with the name born 1928–1945. Generation years follow the Pew Research Center. How we estimate ages