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Looking at the Names of 1910

It's obvious that vintage everything is on trend. We were curious to see how names that were popular long ago are doing on the charts today. We wondered when they dropped of the list, which ones are making a comeback, and if there were variations that were keeping the same name vibe alive. We made a video of the Top 50 Names of Girls Circa 1910. Then we did a little data dive to look at how the same names are doing now.

Compared to the Top 10 names from 2018, seven of which end in -a, only Anna, #6 from 1910 ends that popular way. In fact, as you go down the vintage list, it's names like Edna, Thelma, and Martha  that finish with -a, names we don't really see inside the Top 500 today.

Mildred came in at #8 back then. It hung around in the Top 100 until 1945 but continued a steady decline until dropping out of the Top 1000 after 1984. Millie hung around in the 2-300's for a while but also seemed on a slow and steady drop, dipping out of the Top 1000 even earlier, around 1966. But Millie made quite the comeback. Reappearing in 2009, it is definitely on the rise. Mille has gone from #868 to #304 in just the last nine years.

Alice, #10 in 1910 recently popped back into the Top 100. Perhaps it was Allison as an option that had impact on Alice's decline, but the vintage names trend has definitely got this one back on track.

Another vintage name making it's way back up the charts is Florence, which came in at #12 in 1910. It remained in the Top 500 through the 60's but dropped out of the big 1000 in 1982. She's back, coming in at #979 in 2017 and #971 in 2018.

Helen, #2 back in 1910, has continued a slow decline coming in at #413 in the 2018 data. This is one that we truly believe will be on the rise soon, making big leaps like Alice, Charlotte, Scarlett and Hazel have.

Check out the data for Elizabeth! Since landing at #7 in 1910, this one has never dipped lower than 26, and has stayed in the Top 15 for forty years. Perhaps used to honor a beloved mother or grandmother, or the versatility of Betta, Betty, Lisa, Eliza and more possible shorts has kept this name as a constant.

When we dug into the 2018 data we noticed a couple obvious trends. One was -lani names. Keilani, Kailani, Ailani. Laylani and about eight other versions are quickly rising in popularity. Was this a name ending for little girls in 1910? Nope. Not a single name from the Top 50 ends this way. Lonnie comes in at #643 and that is as close as we could find in the entire Top 1000!

What a blast to look into the Top names of 1910. Perhaps even more fun was digging in beyond the popular ones. The names we found ourselves reading out loud and pondering will likely lead to another post. Did you know that Clifford made the Top 1000 for girls? And Frank, Joe and Louie! Our next question about finding "gender neutral" names on the list gave us a whole bunch of fun conversation.

As usual, we only scratch the surface. This was a beautiful collection to look at and encourage you to get into the SSA data and play.
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