Popular Names of 1916

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1916, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Margaret peaked among human females this year, at 4th.

Table 1. Female names, 1916
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	61,438	125
2	Helen	32,661	462
3	Dorothy	27,418	421
4	Margaret	24,953	112
5	Ruth	23,189	173
6	Mildred	15,633	1,973
7	Anna	15,228	107
8	Elizabeth	14,940	17
9	Frances	13,746	318
10	Virginia	12,487	526
11	Evelyn	11,889	8
12	Marie	11,682	618
13	Alice	10,719	65
14	Florence	10,412	391
15	Rose	9,605	114
16	Lillian	9,592	57
17	Irene	9,035	651
18	Louise	8,630	516
19	Edna	8,625	2,463
20	Catherine	8,469	314

Table 2. Male names, 1916
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	50,043	23
2	William	40,418	9
3	James	35,569	6
4	Robert	31,741	92
5	Joseph	23,883	29
6	Charles	23,612	48
7	George	23,381	126
8	Edward	17,005	224
9	Frank	15,291	514
10	Thomas	11,998	34
11	Walter	11,760	252
12	Paul	10,790	262
13	Harold	10,698	993
14	Henry	10,656	5
15	Richard	10,134	234
16	Raymond	9,565	395
17	Albert	9,044	614
18	Arthur	8,921	87
19	Harry	8,476	775
20	Donald	7,736	690

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As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.