Popular names of 1905, and how old they are now

People born in 1905 turn 121 in 2026. Social Security recorded about 420,000 births in 1905 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 1905

Most popular girl names of 1905
#	Name	Born 1905	Avg. age, everyone
1	Mary	16,067	66
2	Helen	6,811	66
3	Margaret	5,690	61
4	Anna	5,424	39
5	Ruth	5,068	62
6	Elizabeth	4,121	44
7	Dorothy	3,937	72
8	Mildred	3,758	74
9	Marie	3,643	62
10	Alice	3,610	53
11	Florence	3,478	66
12	Ethel	3,401	76
13	Lillian	3,185	29
14	Gladys	2,996	68
15	Edna	2,953	70
16	Frances	2,887	67
17	Annie	2,793	54
18	Rose	2,724	56
19	Grace	2,630	27
20	Bessie	2,446	74
21	Bertha	2,434	69
22	Clara	2,397	36
23	Louise	2,367	69
24	Irene	2,357	61
25	Hazel	2,351	27
26	Emma	2,298	20
27	Gertrude	2,276	76
28	Catherine	2,198	54
29	Mabel	2,178	34
30	Edith	2,137	57
31	Pearl	2,108	51
32	Martha	2,091	66
33	Myrtle	2,026	79
34	Esther	1,993	42
35	Minnie	1,950	72
36	Thelma	1,945	74
37	Josephine	1,894	39
38	Ruby	1,885	39
39	Eva	1,815	36
40	Elsie	1,811	41
41	Sarah	1,762	39
42	Ida	1,757	65
43	Agnes	1,718	64
44	Viola	1,697	61
45	Beatrice	1,661	56
46	Evelyn	1,661	34
47	Julia	1,642	38
48	Nellie	1,626	58
49	Laura	1,566	51
50	Lucille	1,533	52

Top boy names of 1905

Most popular boy names of 1905
#	Name	Born 1905	Avg. age, everyone
1	John	8,059	55
2	William	6,495	51
3	James	6,042	54
4	George	4,256	57
5	Charles	3,608	54
6	Robert	3,410	58
7	Joseph	3,302	45
8	Frank	2,837	59
9	Edward	2,366	56
10	Thomas	2,135	53
11	Henry	2,126	34
12	Walter	1,902	58
13	Willie	1,782	64
14	Harry	1,619	62
15	Albert	1,532	57
16	Arthur	1,505	54
17	Clarence	1,377	62
18	Fred	1,284	67
19	Paul	1,262	57
20	Harold	1,258	66
21	Raymond	1,159	56
22	Richard	1,033	60
23	Joe	1,024	61
24	Roy	1,016	60
25	Louis	981	52
26	Carl	959	60
27	Ralph	938	65
28	Jack	907	34
29	Earl	904	64
30	Samuel	856	32
31	Ernest	845	61
32	David	838	52
33	Theodore	834	29
34	Charlie	801	31
35	Howard	735	65
36	Francis	685	57
37	Herbert	681	65
38	Lawrence	669	60
39	Sam	620	47
40	Andrew	619	36
41	Elmer	602	56
42	Eugene	593	63
43	Alfred	591	60
44	Floyd	523	64
45	Michael	513	49
46	Leo	512	24
47	Leonard	495	60
48	Anthony	490	40
49	Lee	486	57
50	Daniel	484	42

About these numbers

“Born” counts the babies of each sex given the name in 1905, 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 1905. “Avg. age, everyone” is the average age of everyone alive with the name, not just the 1905 babies. Records before the late 1930s undercount births, because many people born then never applied for a Social Security card. How we calculate this