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Baby names

21st Jun 2018

These are the 100 most popular baby names from 100 years ago

Orlaith Condon

Some forgotten gems in here.

When picking a name, it can be difficult to avoid the long list of overused choices. Yes, there’s a reason that certain names remain popular year after year and one of them is because they’re the most-suggested.

Well, what better way to find a unique name than digging into the archives of those that are no longer popular.

Trends change over the years, but it’s not uncommon to see many reappear years later and the same goes for baby names.

The folks over at Nameberry have been taking a look back, 100 years ago to be precise, and seeing what were the most popular names of that time.

Surprisingly, however, the popular choices back then have yet to reappear in today’s most popular list so you know that you’ll be one of the only ones choosing them.

And while that may have alarm bells going off that these won’t be the prettiest names you’ve ever heard, you’d be surprised at the number of gorgeous names that aren’t getting the love they should.

 

GIRLS

  1. Agatha
  2. Alpha
  3. Althea
  4. Augusta
  5. Avis
  6. Bernadette
  7. Beryl
  8. Bessie
  9. Birdie
  10. Carmella
  11. Cleo
  12. Delia
  13. Dixie
  14. Effie
  15. Etta
  16. Fay
  17. Geneva
  18. Gertie
  19. Ida
  20. Inez
  21. Ione
  22. Iva
  23. Lelia
  24. Loretta
  25. Lorna
  26. Lottie
  27. Louella
  28. Lucinda
  29. Lula
  30. Lulu
  31. Mamie
  32. Maude
  33. Merle
  34. Minerva
  35. Minnie
  36. Muriel
  37. Myrtle
  38. Odessa
  39. Olga
  40. Opal
  41. Pauline
  42. Philomena
  43. Polly
  44. Rosalind
  45. Rosella
  46. Roxie
  47. Sibyl
  48. Theda
  49. Winifred
  50. Yolanda

 

BOYS

  1. Abe
  2. Alphonse
  3. Ambrose
  4. Archie
  5. Barney
  6. Benedict
  7. Booker
  8. Burl
  9. Cecil
  10. Chester
  11. Claude
  12. Clement
  13. Cleveland
  14. Cornelius
  15. Dale
  16. Dewey
  17. Dorsey
  18. Doyle
  19. Dudley
  20. Edmund
  21. Ferdinand
  22. Floyd
  23. Forest
  24. Garland
  25. Grover
  26. Hiram
  27. Homer
  28. Isadore
  29. Kermit
  30. Lemuel
  31. Lowell
  32. Lucius
  33. Luther
  34. Ned
  35. Noble
  36. Norris
  37. Ollie
  38. Perry
  39. Pete
  40. Roscoe
  41. Rufus
  42. Sol
  43. Stuart
  44. Thaddeus
  45. Ulysses
  46. Vito
  47. Waldo
  48. Wallace
  49. Ward
  50. Wiley