Most Popular Baby Names for Girls the Year You Were Born

Little girls’ names are mostly popularized by the stars of the entertainment industry: a child actor who was a beacon of hope during the Great Depression; the name that a famous singer named his daughter; the title of a popular song; and the name that fictional characters gave their baby in a sitcom.

Stacker rounded up the most popular girl names from 1915 to 2021, using data from the Social Security Administration. Additionally, we did a little extra digging to glean insights into why these names were used so much at the time.

– #1 girls’ name: Mary – #2 girls’ name: Helen – #3 girls’ name: Dorothy Mary topped the list of popular names from 1915-1919, and had, in fact, been the most popular girl name for many centuries well before that. Mary was the mother of Jesus in the Bible, the Torah, and the Quran.

1915-1919

#1 girls’ name: Jennifer – #2 girls’ name: Lisa – #3 girls’ name: Kimberly In 1971, Jennifer began its reign in first place where it remained for several years, likely in part due to the film “Summer of ’42,” starring Jennifer O’Neill, and “Love Story,” the main character of which is named Jennifer.

1970-1971

1981-1983

– #1 girls’ name: Jennifer – #2 girls’ name: Jessica – #3 girls’ name: Amanda By this point, Jennifer’s popularity led to one of the owners of Nameberry.com to title her book on choosing names “Beyond Jennifer & Jason,” and says that today, there are websites where people named Jennifer bond over wishing their name wasn’t Jennifer.

– #1 girls’ name: Emily – #2 girls’ name: Hannah – #3 girls’ name: Samantha This year, both Jessica and Ashley made a sudden disappearance, to be taken over by Hannah at #2 and Samantha at #3. Samantha is the female form of Samuel from the Torah and the name had been rising in popularity since the film “Bewitched” in the 1960s.

1998

– #1 girls’ name: Emma – #2 girls’ name: Olivia – #3 girls’ name: Sophia In 2015, the name Emma returned to the top of the list. That same year, actor Emma Stone won the hearts of the country as Gwen Stacy in “The Amazing Spiderman” movies.

2014-2015

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