Popular Names of 1917

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1917, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Manus peaked among human males this year, at 3,103rd.

Table 1. Female names, 1917
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	64,280	125
2	Helen	34,251	462
3	Dorothy	28,852	421
4	Margaret	25,560	112
5	Ruth	23,568	173
6	Mildred	16,256	1,973
7	Anna	15,160	107
8	Elizabeth	15,131	17
9	Frances	14,363	318
10	Virginia	14,261	526
11	Evelyn	12,532	8
12	Marie	11,813	618
13	Alice	10,990	65
14	Florence	10,538	391
15	Lillian	9,843	57
16	Rose	9,783	114
17	Irene	9,163	651
18	Catherine	8,689	314
19	Louise	8,584	516
20	Edna	8,422	2,463

Table 2. Male names, 1917
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	51,852	23
2	William	42,422	9
3	James	37,337	6
4	Robert	35,220	92
5	Joseph	24,761	29
6	George	24,196	126
7	Charles	24,143	48
8	Edward	17,501	224
9	Frank	15,768	514
10	Thomas	12,611	34
11	Walter	12,582	252
12	Harold	11,194	993
13	Paul	11,156	262
14	Richard	10,914	234
15	Henry	10,696	5
16	Raymond	9,956	395
17	Arthur	9,282	87
18	Albert	9,157	614
19	Harry	8,856	775
20	Donald	8,729	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.