Popular Names by Decade

Check out my handy dandy lists of popular names by decade.  Okay, it's technically not my handy dandy list, it comes from the Social Security Administration website (here) where all things baby name related are born.  Just because a name makes the Top 10 list in any given year doesn't mean it's overwhelming popular through the entire decade.  The names below speak to each decade as a whole and, thus, to each generation as a whole.  Even if your child is born in 2012, you can give him or her a throwback name from your favorite past decade.

These statistics are based on the number of people that were given the name in each decade (and not the percentage of people).  You can see that in more recent decades the most popular names jockey quite a bit where as at the turn of the century...the 19th century...very little changed.  You can also see that popularity of girl names changes much more drastically decade to decade as compared to popularity of boy names.

Born in the 2000s

1. Jacob

2. Michael

3. Joshua

4. Matthew

5. Daniel

1. Emily

2. Madison

3. Emma

4. Olivia

5. Hannah

Born in the 1990s

1. Michael

2. Christopher

3. Matthew

4. Joshua

5. Jacob

1. Jessica

2. Ashley

3. Emily

4. Sarah

5. Samantha

Born in the 1980s

1. Michael

2. Christopher

3. Matthew

4. Joshua

5. David

1. Jessica

2. Jennifer

3. Amanda

4. Ashley

5. Sarah

Born in the 1970s

1. Michael

2. Christopher

3. Jason

4. David

5. James

1. Jennifer

2. Amy

3. Melissa

4. Michelle

5. Kimberly

Born in the 1960s

1. Michael

2. David

3. John

4. James

5. Robert

1. Lisa

2. Mary

3. Susan

4. Karen

5. Kimberly

Born in the 1950s

1. James

2. Michael

3. Robert

4. John

5. David

1. Mary

2. Linda

3. Patricia

4. Susan

5. Deborah

Born in the 1940s

1. James

2. Robert

3. John

4. William

5. Richard

1. Mary

2. Linda

3. Barbara

4. Patricia

5. Carol

Born in the 1930s

1. Robert

2. James

3. John

4. William

5. Richard

1. Mary

2. Betty

3. Barbara

4. Shirley

5. Patricia

Born in the 1920s

1. Robert

2. John

3. James

4. William

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Dorothy

3. Helen

4. Betty

5. Margaret

Born in the 1910s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. Robert

5. Joseph

1. Mary 

2. Helen

3. Dorothy

4. Margaret

5. Ruth

Born in the 1900s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. George

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Helen

3. Margaret

4. Anna

5. Ruth

Born in the 1890s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. George

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Anna

3. Margaret

4. Helen

5. Elizabeth

Born in the 1880s

1. John

2. William

3. James

4. George

5. Charles

1. Mary

2. Anna

3. Emma

4. Elizabeth

5. Margaret