Having déjà vu?
A couple of months ago, we looked at a long, year-by-year list of the top baby name rises. A month after that, we saw the corresponding list of top drops.
On that second post, Frank B. left a comment in which he asked about absolute rises and drops — because the lists only covered relative movement within the data. So I thought two more posts were in order: top raw-number rises, and top raw-number drops.
We’ll start with the rises again. Just keep in mind that the SSA numbers don’t become very accurate until the mid-to-late 20th century, so many of the numbers below don’t quite reflect reality.
Here’s the format: Girl names are on the left, boy names are on the right, and the numbers represent single-year rises in usage. From 1880 to 1881, for instance, the usage of the girl name Ethel increased by 155 babies and the usage of the boy name Chester increased by 106 babies.
- 1881: Ethel, +155; Chester, +106
- 1882: Mary, +1,229; John, +788
- 1883: Bertha, +173; Grover, +71
- 1884: Mary, +1,205; Grover, +675
- 1885: Helen, +148; Willie, +36
- 1886: Mary, +762; John, +270
- 1887: Ethel, +208; Harold, +55
- 1888: Mary, +1,866; William, +1,235
- 1889: Ruth, +223; Russell, +52
- 1890: Mary, +430; Charlie, +112
- 1891: Ruth, +662; Theodore & Herbert, +34 (tie)
- 1892: Mary, +1,471; John, +1,358
- 1893: Esther, +558; Claude, +41
- 1894: Marie, +437; John, +189
- 1895: Anna, +385; James, +225
- 1896: Helen, +369; William, +470
- 1897: Thelma, +159; Dewey, +95
- 1898: Mary, +994; Dewey, +957
- 1899: Mildred, +188; Kenneth, +24
- 1900: Mary, +3536; John, +2,840
- 1901: Retha, +25; Theodore, +21
- 1902: Mary, +1,350; John, +1,009
- 1903: Dorothy, +371; Jack, +88
- 1904: Mary, +687; John, +499
- 1905: Mary, +1,105; Charles, +201
- 1906: Alice, +581; Robert, +225
- 1907: Mary, +1,211; James, +799
- 1908: Mary, +1,085; William, +622
- 1909: Helen, +813; James, +582
- 1910: Mary, +3,589; John, +1,860
- 1911: Dorothy, +1,551; John, +1,995
- 1912: Mary, +7,910; John, +11,140
- 1913: Mary, +4,342; John, +4,738
- 1914: Mary, +8,705; John, +8,621
- 1915: Mary, +12,842; John, +9,634
- 1916: Mary, +3,246; Robert, +3,004
- 1917: Mary, +2,847; Robert, +3,474
- 1918: Dorothy, +3,179; Robert, +5,409
- 1919: Betty, +1,304; Willie, +409
- 1920: Mary, +5,141; Robert, +7,656
- 1921: Betty, +3,618; Robert, +4,096
- 1922: Betty, +3,259; Richard, +1,165
- 1923: Betty, +5,097; Robert, +2,300
- 1924: Betty, +4,605; Robert, +4,685
- 1925: Gloria, +2,835; Richard, +2,034
- 1926: Barbara, +1,917; Richard, +1,864
- 1927: Mary, +2,787; Donald, +2,935
- 1928: Dolores, +2,843; Herbert, +3,049
- 1929: Joan, +3,806; Donald, +1,456
- 1930: Joan, +3,812; Richard, +2,602
- 1931: Joan, +3,633; Ronald, +1,086
- 1932: Barbara, +4,514; Ronald, +4,411
- 1933: Carol, +1,650; Franklin, +2,603
- 1934: Shirley, +8,523; James, +3,124
- 1935: Shirley, +19,514; David, +1,664
- 1936: Carol, +2,785; Robert, +1,968
(From the SSA: “Note that many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so their names are not included in our data.”)
- 1937: Barbara, +3,230; David, +3,493
- 1938: Judith, +4,729; James, +2,526
- 1939: Judith, +5,748; David, +2,366
- 1940: Linda, +7,657; John, +3,739
- 1941: Linda, +5,355; James, +4,262
- 1942: Linda, +7,882; James, +10,450
- 1943: Linda, +6,831; James, +3,072
- 1944: Cheryl, +5,092; Gary, +2,192
- 1945: Linda, +3,065; Michael, +3,179
- 1946: Linda, +11,239; Robert, +14,194
- 1947: Linda, +46,978; David, +11,381
- 1948: Deborah, +5,409; Mark, +2,503
- 1949: Deborah, +7,953; Michael, +7,417
- 1950: Deborah, +9,877; Michael, +5,220
- 1951: Deborah, +12,954; Michael, +7,531
- 1952: Debra, +9,782; David, +7,043
- 1953: Debra, +10,015; Michael, +5,172
- 1954: Debra, +9,029; Mark, +6,899
- 1955: Debra, +4,653; David, +6,653
- 1956: Karen, +6,843; Mark, +6,596
- 1957: Cindy, +10,268; Mark, +4,020
- 1958: Tammy, +5,618; Timothy, +4,011
- 1959: Donna, +9,517; Mark, +4,260
- 1960: Lisa, +8,013; Jeffrey, +2,564
- 1961: Lisa, +8,983; Todd, +4,005
- 1962: Lisa, +3,394; Scott, +6,790
- 1963: Lisa, +9,951; Paul, +2,884
- 1964: Dawn, +4,196; John, +3,900
- 1965: Lisa, +5,990; Rodney, +5,013
- 1966: Michelle, +10,937; Christopher, +3,228
- 1967: Melissa, +4,114; Matthew, +2,778
- 1968: Jennifer, +8,612; Matthew, +2,253
- 1969: Jennifer, +6,858; Jason, +9,346
- 1970: Jennifer, +12,455; Jason, +10,788
- 1971: Jennifer, +10,626; Jason, +6,897
- 1972: Jennifer, +6,820; Christopher, +3,954
- 1973: Heather, +3,032; Jason, +9,236
- 1974: Heather, +3,836; Jason, +8,082
- 1975: Amanda, +5,177; Joshua, +2,968
- 1976: Jamie, +8,306; Jeremy, +4,940
- 1977: Jessica, +6,467; Joshua, +5,205
- 1978: Crystal, +2,865; Nicholas, +10,274
- 1979: Amanda, +11,406; Joshua, +5,921
- 1980: Tiffany, +6,614; Justin, +9,355
- 1981: Jessica, +8,602; Brandon, +6,048
- 1982: Ashley, +5,971; Christopher, +8,995
- 1983: Ashley, +18,435; Kyle, +4,161
- 1984: Ashley, +5,478; Joshua, +3,551
- 1985: Ashley, +8,242; Andrew, +4,252
- 1986: Whitney, +5,699; Andrew, +3,682
- 1987: Kayla, +5,917; Justin, +4,874
- 1988: Brittany, +4,594; Justin, +3,545
- 1989: Brittany, +10,969; Ethan, +3,162
- 1990: Taylor, +3,188; Jordan, +5,257
- 1991: Shelby, +6,703; Dylan, +5,349
- 1992: Taylor, +4,696; Dylan, +5,298
- 1993: Taylor, +6,318; Austin, +6,125
- 1994: Alexis, +2,208; Austin, +5,616
- 1995: Madison, +3,516; Austin, +2,714
- 1996: Madison, +3,632; Noah, +3,360
- 1997: Hannah, +1,993; Jacob, +2,237
- 1998: Emma, +2,700; Noah, +4,137
- 1999: Grace, +3,460; Seth, +1,718
- 2000: Trinity, +2,803; Ethan, +3,783
- 2001: Isabella, +2,587; Logan, +2,973
- 2002: Isabella, +3,334; Ethan, +4,143
- 2003: Emma, +6,170; Aidan, +3,108
- 2004: Ava, +2,364; Aiden, +1,472
- 2005: Ava, +4,959; Landon, +2,070
- 2006: Addison, +4,595; Aiden, +2,492
- 2007: Addison, +4,328; Jayden, +5,596
- 2008: Peyton, +1,954; Aiden, +2,472
- 2009: Isabella, +3,667; Liam, +2,582
- 2010: Sophia, +3,680; Mason, +4,139
- 2011: Harper, +2,032; Mason, +4,650
- 2012: Harper, +2,496; Liam, +3,286
- 2013: Sadie, +2,031; Jase, +3,410
- 2014: Olivia, +1,308; Oliver, +2,116
- 2015: Alexa, +1,786; Oliver, +2,181
- 2016: Adeline, +1,700; Mateo, +1,516
- 2017: Luna, +1,657; Logan, +2,748
Some of these names I’ve written about already, and others I plan to write about in the future. If you can give explanations for any of those others right now, though, feel free! Just leave a comment…
