Quick: how many Jennifers did you go to school with? If you were born between 1970 and 1984, the answer is probably “too many to count.” Girls’ names sweep the country, with one favorite taking over the playground for years at a time before the next arrives. Using data from the Social Security Administration (SSA), we tracked the number-one girl name for every birth year from 1920 on, and what drove each reign. Scroll to your decade to see which name topped the list the year you were born.
1920s
Mary was more than popular in the 1920s. It was the default. The name had held the top spot since before the decade began, and it kept the crown for all 10 years. Parents leaned on a short list of classics, so the same names kept circling in the top five: Dorothy, Helen, Margaret, Ruth and, by mid-decade, Betty. Mary’s staying power came from its deep Biblical roots and its status as a family name that grandmothers, aunts and mothers often shared. Naming a daughter Mary wasn’t a trend. It was a tradition.
•1920: Mary
•1921: Mary
•1922: Mary
•1923: Mary
•1924: Mary
•1925: Mary
•1926: Mary
•1927: Mary
•1928: Mary
•1929: Mary
1930s
Mary stayed number one for all 10 years, but the real drama was happening right behind it. Betty held the runner-up spot early in the decade. Then Shirley burst into the top five in 1935 and hit number two the next year, just as child star Shirley Temple became one of the country's biggest box-office draws. By 1937, Barbara had taken over second place, and Patricia had joined the top three. Even in the thick of the Great Depression, parents reached for comforting, familiar names with a dash of Hollywood glamour.
•1930: Mary
•1931: Mary
•1932: Mary
•1933: Mary
•1934: Mary
•1935: Mary
•1936: Mary
•1937: Mary
•1938: Mary
•1939: Mary
1940s
Mary held on through 1946, the year the first baby boomers arrived. Then Linda made history, becoming the first name in this span to knock Mary off the top. It took over in 1947 and kept the title through 1952. A hit song called “Linda” came out in 1947 and is often credited with boosting the name, though its soft, pretty sound probably did plenty on its own. Barbara and Patricia stayed in the top three, and Carol and Sandra began reaching the top five as parents reached for something lighter after the war years.
•1940: Mary
•1941: Mary
•1942: Mary
•1943: Mary
•1944: Mary
•1945: Mary
•1946: Mary
•1947: Linda
•1948: Linda
•1949: Linda
1950s
Linda’s run ended in 1952, but Mary wasn’t done. It stormed back to number one in 1953 and held the crown for the rest of the decade, a rare comeback in baby-name history. Baby Boom families still loved a traditional name, and the top five reads like a roll call of the era: Susan, Linda, Karen, Donna, Patricia and Barbara. Deborah and Debra, two spellings of the same name, even split the vote, swapping the number two and number four spots between 1955 and 1956. Mary would stay on top through 1961.
•1950: Linda
•1951: Linda
•1952: Linda
•1953: Mary
•1954: Mary
•1955: Mary
•1956: Mary
•1957: Mary
•1958: Mary
•1959: Mary
1960s
Mary’s last two years at number one came in 1960 and 1961, wrapping up a reign that adds up to 30 times on top over the past century, according to the SSA. Then Lisa took over in 1962 and stayed there for eight straight years. This decade marked the first time girls’ names started to sound noticeably different from their mothers': Lisa, Kimberly, Michelle and Karen rose, while classics like Mary, Susan and Linda slipped. By 1969, Jennifer had already jumped into the top three, setting up the next decade’s takeover.
•1960: Mary
•1961: Mary
•1962: Lisa
•1963: Lisa
•1964: Lisa
•1965: Lisa
•1966: Lisa
•1967: Lisa
•1968: Lisa
•1969: Lisa
1970s
Jennifer ranked third in 1969, then rocketed to number one in 1970 and never looked back. Its 15-year reign, which lasted through 1984, outlasted every other girls’ name in this stretch except Mary. Amy, Melissa, Heather and Angela rounded out a top five that sounded nothing like the 1950s lineup, with breezier, more modern names replacing the old standbys.
•1970: Jennifer
•1971: Jennifer
•1972: Jennifer
•1973: Jennifer
•1974: Jennifer
•1975: Jennifer
•1976: Jennifer
•1977: Jennifer
•1978: Jennifer
•1979: Jennifer
1980s
Jennifer finished its reign in 1984, and Jessica took the throne in 1985, holding on through the end of the decade. Jessica has a literary pedigree, often traced to Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Ashley, Amanda and Sarah rounded out a top five full of names that were popular but hardly new, and Brittany crashed the party by 1989. The 1980s also marked the moment parents left Mary, Susan and Linda behind for good: not one of them cracked the top five at any point in the decade.
•1980: Jennifer
•1981: Jennifer
•1982: Jennifer
•1983: Jennifer
•1984: Jennifer
•1985: Jessica
•1986: Jessica
•1987: Jessica
•1988: Jessica
•1989: Jessica
1990s
The 1990s were a tug-of-war. Jessica opened the decade on top, Ashley briefly pulled ahead in 1991 and 1992, and Jessica snatched the title back from 1993 to 1995. Then Emily arrived and changed the game. It claimed number one in 1996 and wouldn’t give it up until 2007, a 12-year run that spilled well into the next decade. Hannah, Samantha and Sarah filled out the rest of the top five, a lineup of friendly, easygoing names that defined a generation of ’90s kids.
•1990: Jessica
•1991: Ashley
•1992: Ashley
•1993: Jessica
•1994: Jessica
•1995: Jessica
•1996: Emily
•1997: Emily
•1998: Emily
•1999: Emily
2000s
Emily held number one for the first eight years of the 2000s, making it one of the longest streaks in modern baby-name history. Madison, a name that was barely used before the 1984 movie Splash, climbed to number two in 2002 and stayed in the top three through 2006. Then the old guard finally gave way, first to Emma in 2008 and then to Isabella in 2009. Isabella’s rise is often linked to the success of the Twilight books and films, whose heroine goes by Bella. A new era of lyrical, vowel-heavy names was just getting started.
•2000: Emily
•2001: Emily
•2002: Emily
•2003: Emily
•2004: Emily
•2005: Emily
•2006: Emily
•2007: Emily
•2008: Emma
•2009: Isabella
2010s
Isabella ruled in 2010, Sophia took over from 2011 through 2013, and Emma held court from 2014 through 2018 before Olivia finally broke through in 2019. This was the decade of the soft, vowel-heavy name. The same handful (Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella and Ava) rotated through the top five in different orders all decade, a level of consistency not seen since the days when Mary ruled the list.
•2010: Isabella
•2011: Sophia
•2012: Sophia
•2013: Sophia
•2014: Emma
•2015: Emma
•2016: Emma
•2017: Emma
•2018: Emma
•2019: Olivia
2020s
Olivia has been number one every year since 2019, giving the name seven straight years on top through 2025. Emma held number two through 2024, with Charlotte, Amelia and Sophia rounding out a remarkably stable top five. The real shake-up is happening just below the surface: Charlotte and Amelia, both with a vintage feel, have been climbing, and in 2025 Charlotte leaped to number two, bumping Emma to number three. Parents today want names that sound both classic and fresh, which is exactly what Mary offered a century ago.
•2020: Olivia
•2021: Olivia
•2022: Olivia
•2023: Olivia
•2024: Olivia
•2025: Olivia
