Popular Names of 1928

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1928, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Alfred peaked among human males this year, at 33rd.

Table 1. Female names, 1928
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	66,871	125
2	Betty	36,083	1,113
3	Dorothy	33,733	421
4	Helen	22,937	462
5	Margaret	20,295	112
6	Ruth	17,859	173
7	Doris	16,575	2,909
8	Barbara	14,872	968
9	Virginia	14,500	526
10	Shirley	14,215	1,586
11	Patricia	12,331	1,336
12	Jean	12,209	2,130
13	Frances	12,137	318
14	Elizabeth	11,767	17
15	Mildred	11,653	1,973
16	Anna	10,575	107
17	Evelyn	10,533	8
18	Lois	10,425	1,670
19	Alice	10,139	65
20	Dolores	9,615	2,567

Table 2. Male names, 1928
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Robert	60,701	92
2	John	53,760	23
3	James	52,752	6
4	William	49,118	9
5	Charles	31,243	48
6	Richard	28,793	234
7	Donald	25,704	690
8	George	24,391	126
9	Joseph	22,322	29
10	Edward	18,492	224
11	Thomas	16,582	34
12	Frank	13,570	514
13	Paul	13,160	262
14	Harold	12,670	993
15	Jack	12,494	15
16	Raymond	11,946	395
17	Kenneth	11,167	294
18	Walter	10,651	252
19	David	9,990	35
20	Eugene	9,708	943

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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.