Popular Names of 1929

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1929, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Lois peaked among human females this year, at 17th.

Table 1. Female names, 1929
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	63,512	125
2	Betty	36,675	1,113
3	Dorothy	31,476	421
4	Helen	20,983	462
5	Margaret	19,212	112
6	Doris	16,498	2,909
7	Barbara	16,038	968
8	Ruth	16,021	173
9	Shirley	14,576	1,586
10	Patricia	13,624	1,336
11	Virginia	13,234	526
12	Jean	11,865	2,130
13	Joan	11,666	1,087
14	Dolores	11,508	2,567
15	Elizabeth	11,248	17
16	Frances	11,093	318
17	Lois	10,295	1,670
18	Mildred	10,255	1,973
19	Evelyn	9,886	8
20	Anna	9,751	107

Table 2. Male names, 1929
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Robert	59,807	92
2	James	52,135	6
3	John	52,112	23
4	William	47,815	9
5	Charles	29,930	48
6	Richard	29,572	234
7	Donald	27,181	690
8	George	23,020	126
9	Joseph	21,165	29
10	Edward	17,220	224
11	Thomas	16,272	34
12	Frank	12,966	514
13	Paul	12,431	262
14	Jack	12,167	15
15	Raymond	11,909	395
16	Harold	11,677	993
17	David	11,302	35
18	Kenneth	10,841	294
19	Walter	9,850	252
20	Eugene	9,046	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.