Popular names of 1902, and how old they are now

People born in 1902 turn 124 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 390,000 births in 1902 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 1902

Most popular girl names of 1902
#	Name	Born 1902	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	14,486	66
2	Helen	5,967	66
3	Anna	5,288	39
4	Margaret	5,011	61
5	Ruth	4,384	62
6	Elizabeth	3,694	44
7	Florence	3,509	66
8	Marie	3,424	62
9	Ethel	3,295	76
10	Alice	3,135	53
11	Lillian	3,063	29
12	Gladys	2,809	68
13	Edna	2,754	70
14	Mildred	2,750	74
15	Dorothy	2,707	72
16	Annie	2,664	54
17	Grace	2,642	27
18	Emma	2,514	20
19	Bessie	2,448	74
20	Rose	2,444	56
21	Clara	2,432	36
22	Bertha	2,372	69
23	Frances	2,326	67
24	Mabel	2,280	34
25	Hazel	2,238	27
26	Irene	2,210	61
27	Gertrude	2,207	76
28	Pearl	2,100	51
29	Minnie	2,055	72
30	Martha	2,030	66
31	Catherine	1,896	54
32	Myrtle	1,884	79
33	Edith	1,853	57
34	Ida	1,836	65
35	Esther	1,833	42
36	Louise	1,832	69
37	Eva	1,727	36
38	Elsie	1,720	41
39	Sarah	1,710	39
40	Agnes	1,676	64
41	Nellie	1,566	58
42	Josephine	1,565	39
43	Laura	1,559	51
44	Lillie	1,533	54
45	Ella	1,525	22
46	Julia	1,501	38
47	Ruby	1,458	39
48	Viola	1,447	61
49	Beatrice	1,429	56
50	Carrie	1,376	52

Top boy names of 1902

Most popular boy names of 1902
#	Name	Born 1902	Avg. age, everyone
1	John	7,907	55
2	William	6,617	51
3	James	5,592	54
4	George	4,223	57
5	Charles	3,361	54
6	Robert	3,180	58
7	Joseph	3,098	45
8	Frank	2,756	59
9	Edward	2,294	56
10	Henry	2,154	34
11	Thomas	2,134	53
12	Walter	1,858	58
13	Harry	1,750	62
14	Willie	1,565	64
15	Arthur	1,487	54
16	Albert	1,375	57
17	Clarence	1,292	62
18	Fred	1,286	67
19	Harold	1,077	66
20	Paul	1,067	57
21	Raymond	1,064	56
22	Roy	1,002	60
23	Joe	955	61
24	Carl	952	60
25	Louis	912	52
26	Richard	908	60
27	Earl	877	64
28	Ralph	866	65
29	Ernest	790	61
30	Charlie	761	31
31	David	761	52
32	Jack	743	34
33	Samuel	702	32
34	Theodore	642	29
35	Howard	632	65
36	Herbert	615	65
37	Lawrence	598	60
38	Francis	597	57
39	Alfred	590	60
40	Elmer	574	56
41	Sam	559	47
42	Andrew	558	36
43	Leo	551	24
44	Eugene	524	63
45	Daniel	501	42
46	Lee	475	57
47	Floyd	471	64
48	Michael	460	49
49	Herman	457	63
50	Jesse	437	39

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1902, 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 1902. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1902 babies. Records before the late 1930s undercount births, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card. How we calculate this