Popular names of 1904, and how old they are now

People born in 1904 turn 122 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 400,000 births in 1904 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 1904

Most popular girl names of 1904
#	Name	Born 1904	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	14,961	66
2	Helen	6,488	66
3	Anna	5,330	39
4	Margaret	5,302	61
5	Ruth	4,900	62
6	Elizabeth	3,833	44
7	Marie	3,595	62
8	Florence	3,572	66
9	Mildred	3,525	74
10	Dorothy	3,477	72
11	Ethel	3,296	76
12	Lillian	3,139	29
13	Alice	3,131	53
14	Gladys	2,976	68
15	Edna	2,762	70
16	Frances	2,657	67
17	Annie	2,631	54
18	Rose	2,631	56
19	Grace	2,513	27
20	Bertha	2,363	69
21	Bessie	2,340	74
22	Emma	2,312	20
23	Hazel	2,301	27
24	Clara	2,281	36
25	Gertrude	2,269	76
26	Irene	2,212	61
27	Mabel	2,172	34
28	Louise	2,136	69
29	Martha	2,019	66
30	Pearl	2,015	51
31	Catherine	1,982	54
32	Esther	1,957	42
33	Edith	1,944	57
34	Myrtle	1,905	79
35	Minnie	1,885	72
36	Eva	1,858	36
37	Thelma	1,757	74
38	Ida	1,751	65
39	Elsie	1,719	41
40	Josephine	1,701	39
41	Ruby	1,701	39
42	Agnes	1,672	64
43	Sarah	1,594	39
44	Nellie	1,560	58
45	Beatrice	1,549	56
46	Viola	1,545	61
47	Laura	1,508	51
48	Ella	1,432	22
49	Julia	1,426	38
50	Evelyn	1,372	34

Top boy names of 1904

Most popular boy names of 1904
#	Name	Born 1904	Avg. age, everyone
1	John	8,108	55
2	William	6,416	51
3	James	5,855	54
4	George	4,219	57
5	Robert	3,414	58
6	Charles	3,406	54
7	Joseph	3,291	45
8	Frank	2,799	59
9	Edward	2,335	56
10	Henry	2,085	34
11	Thomas	2,057	53
12	Walter	1,873	58
13	Harry	1,722	62
14	Willie	1,675	64
15	Arthur	1,495	54
16	Albert	1,453	57
17	Clarence	1,310	62
18	Fred	1,223	67
19	Paul	1,194	57
20	Harold	1,186	66
21	Roy	1,123	60
22	Raymond	1,093	56
23	Joe	959	61
24	Richard	957	60
25	Carl	953	60
26	Louis	936	52
27	Jack	908	34
28	Ralph	899	65
29	Earl	854	64
30	Theodore	834	29
31	David	817	52
32	Ernest	749	61
33	Charlie	739	31
34	Samuel	727	32
35	Howard	726	65
36	Francis	686	57
37	Herbert	680	65
38	Lawrence	662	60
39	Elmer	620	56
40	Sam	603	47
41	Alfred	600	60
42	Leo	552	24
43	Andrew	546	36
44	Eugene	541	63
45	Lee	532	57
46	Leonard	508	60
47	Herman	497	63
48	Russell	473	55
49	Daniel	472	42
50	Michael	462	49

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1904, 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 1904. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1904 babies. Records before the late 1930s undercount births, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card. How we calculate this