Popular names of 1900, and how old they are now

People born in 1900 turn 126 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 450,000 births in 1900 under names it lists, and by our estimate fewer than 100 of them are still alive.

The year's top names were Mary for girls and John for boys. Babies born that year belong to the Greatest Generation.

Top girl names of 1900

Most popular girl names of 1900
#	Name	Born 1900	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	16,705	66
2	Helen	6,342	66
3	Anna	6,114	39
4	Margaret	5,304	61
5	Ruth	4,765	62
6	Elizabeth	4,096	44
7	Florence	3,920	66
8	Ethel	3,896	76
9	Marie	3,856	62
10	Lillian	3,414	29
11	Annie	3,324	54
12	Edna	3,102	70
13	Emma	3,095	20
14	Alice	3,059	53
15	Bessie	3,044	74
16	Bertha	3,019	69
17	Grace	2,942	27
18	Rose	2,844	56
19	Clara	2,826	36
20	Mildred	2,800	74
21	Gladys	2,733	68
22	Minnie	2,673	72
23	Gertrude	2,580	76
24	Pearl	2,512	51
25	Mabel	2,509	34
26	Frances	2,495	67
27	Dorothy	2,491	72
28	Martha	2,437	66
29	Hazel	2,425	27
30	Ida	2,285	65
31	Irene	2,264	61
32	Myrtle	2,252	79
33	Eva	2,089	36
34	Catherine	2,081	54
35	Louise	2,070	69
36	Edith	2,068	57
37	Sarah	2,054	39
38	Elsie	2,045	41
39	Esther	2,017	42
40	Lillie	2,004	54
41	Agnes	1,914	64
42	Ella	1,911	22
43	Nellie	1,850	58
44	Mattie	1,834	57
45	Laura	1,824	51
46	Julia	1,766	38
47	Josephine	1,743	39
48	Carrie	1,711	52
49	Viola	1,674	61
50	Hattie	1,553	44

Top boy names of 1900

Most popular boy names of 1900
#	Name	Born 1900	Avg. age, everyone
1	John	9,828	55
2	William	8,579	51
3	James	7,245	54
4	George	5,403	57
5	Charles	4,098	54
6	Robert	3,821	58
7	Joseph	3,714	45
8	Frank	3,477	59
9	Edward	2,720	56
10	Henry	2,606	34
11	Thomas	2,556	53
12	Walter	2,298	58
13	Harry	2,272	62
14	Willie	2,113	64
15	Arthur	1,853	54
16	Albert	1,741	57
17	Fred	1,646	67
18	Clarence	1,483	62
19	Paul	1,288	57
20	Harold	1,245	66
21	Roy	1,215	60
22	Joe	1,179	61
23	Raymond	1,150	56
24	Richard	1,141	60
25	Charlie	1,124	31
26	Louis	1,097	52
27	Jack	1,053	34
28	Earl	1,037	64
29	Carl	1,016	60
30	Ernest	1,012	61
31	Ralph	896	65
32	David	883	52
33	Samuel	877	32
34	Sam	821	47
35	Howard	779	65
36	Herbert	751	65
37	Andrew	718	36
38	Elmer	699	56
39	Lee	675	57
40	Lawrence	659	60
41	Francis	652	57
42	Alfred	640	60
43	Will	603	37
44	Daniel	598	42
45	Eugene	587	63
46	Leo	570	24
47	Oscar	563	33
48	Floyd	555	64
49	Herman	550	63
50	Jesse	536	39

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1900, from Social Security's records. “Alive today” estimates how many of them are still living, using SSA's cohort life tables for people born in 1900. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1900 babies. Records before the late 1930s undercount births, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card. How we calculate this