Baby name trends come and go and it seems an increasing number of parents-to-be are choosing names that would have been popular in their great grandparents’ era.
HuffPost UK has looked at baby name data from the Office for National Statistics and found that there are a fair few similarities between the most recent official list of the most popular baby names in England and Wales and the names which were popular in the 1900s.
Girls’ names, such as Florence, Alice, Ivy, Lily and Elsie, were popular both in 1904 and in 2016. There are, however, some girls’ names - Doris, Gladys and Hilda - that were popular in 1904, yet are very rarely used today.
Interestingly, many of the popular boys’ names in 1904 aren’t that dissimilar to those that are popular today, with many still ranking in the top 100.
So whether you’re looking for a retro name that is enjoying a resurgence or something more unique, take inspiration from the lists below.
We’ve compared the most popular names from 1904 with the most recent baby name data to show how they’re faring today.
The most popular girls’ names in 1904:
1. Mary (Currently #250)
2. Florence (Currently #19)
3. Doris (Currently #2,547)
4. Edith (Currently #96)
5. Dorothy (Currently #274)
6. Annie (Currently #108)
7. Margaret (Currently #423)
8. Alice (Currently #17)
9. Elizabeth (Currently #85)
10. Elsie (Currently #31)
11. Gladys (Currently #4,763)
12. Winifred (Currently #790)
13. Ethel (Currently #1,834)
14. Hilda (Currently #3,609)
15. Lilian (Currently #630)
16. Ivy (Currently #33)
17. Violet (Currently #85)
18. Kathleen (Currently #938)
19. Ellen (Currently #475)
20. Lily (Currently #7)
21. Sarah (Currently #96)
22. Nellie (Currently #310)
23. Emily (Currently #3)
24. Mabel (Currently #210)
25. Ada (Currently #164).
The most popular boys’ names in 1904:
1. William (Currently #10)
2. John (Currently #120)
3. George (Currently #3)
4. Thomas (Currently #9)
5. Arthur (Currently #30)
6. James (Currently #12)
7. Charles (Currently #72)
8. Frederick (Currently #76)
9. Albert (Currently #64)
10. Ernest (Currently #320)
11. Alfred (Currently #111)
12. Edward (Currently #23)
13. Joseph (Currently #22)
14. Harold (Currently #1,123)
15. Robert (Currently #109)
16. Frank (Currently #175)
17. Henry (Currently #15)
18. Harry (Currently #2)
19. Walter (Currently #341)
20. Reginald (Currently #296)
21. Herbert (Currently #672)
22. Leonard (Currently #249)
23. Stanley (Currently #65)
24. Leslie (Currently #4,023)
25. Richard (Currently #278).
Whether you’re looking for a name that is ‘cool’, ‘cute’, ‘pretty’, or ‘unique’, our Baby Name Generator is here to inspire you. Discover the meaning of your favourite name, browse the 100 most popular baby girl names and baby boy names in England and Wales, or let our Random Name Generator throw up an unusual suggestion.