Popular Names of 1921

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1921, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Warden peaked among human males this year, at 2,146th.

Table 1. Female names, 1921
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	73,984	125
2	Dorothy	39,087	421
3	Helen	34,822	462
4	Margaret	28,468	112
5	Ruth	25,783	173
6	Virginia	19,032	526
7	Mildred	17,880	1,973
8	Betty	17,638	1,113
9	Frances	15,993	318
10	Elizabeth	15,800	17
11	Anna	14,476	107
12	Evelyn	14,278	8
13	Doris	13,152	2,909
14	Marie	12,501	618
15	Alice	11,955	65
16	Marjorie	11,209	1,019
17	Florence	10,720	391
18	Irene	10,624	651
19	Lillian	9,770	57
20	Rose	9,352	114

Table 2. Male names, 1921
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	58,216	23
2	Robert	52,779	92
3	William	51,862	9
4	James	49,750	6
5	Charles	29,242	48
6	George	27,476	126
7	Joseph	26,182	29
8	Edward	20,817	224
9	Frank	16,705	514
10	Richard	16,376	234
11	Thomas	15,308	34
12	Harold	13,811	993
13	Donald	13,776	690
14	Paul	13,169	262
15	Walter	13,004	252
16	Raymond	12,645	395
17	Henry	11,411	5
18	Jack	10,757	15
19	Arthur	10,527	87
20	Albert	10,158	614

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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.