Popular names of 1901, and how old they are now

People born in 1901 turn 125 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 350,000 births in 1901 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 1901

Most popular girl names of 1901
#	Name	Born 1901	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	13,136	66
2	Helen	5,247	66
3	Anna	4,923	39
4	Margaret	4,424	61
5	Ruth	3,974	62
6	Elizabeth	3,216	44
7	Marie	3,157	62
8	Florence	3,131	66
9	Ethel	3,067	76
10	Lillian	2,681	29
11	Gladys	2,676	68
12	Alice	2,562	53
13	Edna	2,488	70
14	Mildred	2,424	74
15	Grace	2,398	27
16	Annie	2,396	54
17	Emma	2,374	20
18	Clara	2,319	36
19	Bertha	2,257	69
20	Rose	2,212	56
21	Bessie	2,183	74
22	Dorothy	2,173	72
23	Hazel	2,097	27
24	Mabel	2,097	34
25	Frances	2,071	67
26	Minnie	2,026	72
27	Gertrude	1,964	76
28	Myrtle	1,892	79
29	Martha	1,886	66
30	Irene	1,879	61
31	Pearl	1,866	51
32	Edith	1,863	57
33	Esther	1,844	42
34	Ida	1,835	65
35	Elsie	1,747	41
36	Louise	1,640	69
37	Eva	1,617	36
38	Catherine	1,599	54
39	Agnes	1,525	64
40	Sarah	1,514	39
41	Nellie	1,454	58
42	Ella	1,435	22
43	Josephine	1,434	39
44	Laura	1,402	51
45	Lillie	1,382	54
46	Julia	1,362	38
47	Viola	1,331	61
48	Carrie	1,247	52
49	Ruby	1,225	39
50	Mattie	1,224	57

Top boy names of 1901

Most popular boy names of 1901
#	Name	Born 1901	Avg. age, everyone
1	John	6,900	55
2	William	5,990	51
3	James	4,735	54
4	George	3,609	57
5	Charles	3,049	54
6	Joseph	2,766	45
7	Robert	2,543	58
8	Frank	2,402	59
9	Edward	1,917	56
10	Henry	1,870	34
11	Thomas	1,820	53
12	Walter	1,718	58
13	Harry	1,594	62
14	Arthur	1,329	54
15	Albert	1,317	57
16	Willie	1,294	64
17	Clarence	1,196	62
18	Fred	1,133	67
19	Paul	924	57
20	Roy	917	60
21	Harold	915	66
22	Raymond	888	56
23	Earl	818	64
24	Carl	817	60
25	Louis	797	52
26	Richard	784	60
27	Joe	756	61
28	Ernest	691	61
29	Ralph	682	65
30	David	672	52
31	Charlie	654	31
32	Jack	645	34
33	Samuel	628	32
34	Howard	584	65
35	Herbert	573	65
36	Francis	543	57
37	Lawrence	535	60
38	Elmer	520	56
39	Alfred	506	60
40	Andrew	479	36
41	Sam	479	47
42	Leo	456	24
43	Theodore	450	29
44	Eugene	445	63
45	Lee	424	57
46	Floyd	423	64
47	Oscar	422	33
48	Daniel	416	42
49	Jesse	411	39
50	Russell	395	55

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1901, 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 1901. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1901 babies. Records before the late 1930s undercount births, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card. How we calculate this