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Names

Most popular baby names of 1917 in England and Wales

In 1917, the most popular names in England and Wales were Mary for girls and John for boys. Here are the top 100, with how many babies got each name. The counts for England and Wales before 1996 come from a sample of local birth records, so they are much smaller than the real number of babies. The order is what matters.

← 19161918 →

Girls

  1. 1Mary4,203
  2. 2Margaret2,705
  3. 3Annie2,166
  4. 4Dorothy1,898
  5. 5Edith1,774
  6. 6Elsie1,753
  7. 7Alice1,626
  8. 8Elizabeth1,569
  9. 9Doris1,535
  10. 10Florence1,496
  11. 11Hilda1,476
  12. 12Kathleen1,309
  13. 13Gladys1,305
  14. 14Ethel1,152
  15. 15Edna1,151
  16. 16Irene1,146
  17. 17Winifred1,121
  18. 18Marjorie1,090
  19. 19Lilian1,021
  20. 20Joan910
  21. 21Ellen908
  22. 22Vera871
  23. 23Lily863
  24. 24May830
  25. 25Phyllis812
  26. 26Nellie759
  27. 27Leslie737
  28. 28Sarah702
  29. 29Frances645
  30. 30Ivy642
  31. 31Catherine634
  32. 32Eileen625
  33. 33Agnes572
  34. 34Olive571
  35. 35Evelyn535
  36. 36Ada534
  37. 37Violet527
  38. 38Jessie525
  39. 39Emily493
  40. 40Beatrice487
  41. 41Muriel475
  42. 42Jane440
  43. 43Nora417
  44. 44Mabel408
  45. 45Sydney402
  46. 46Gertrude395
  47. 47Eva375
  48. 48Rose360
  49. 49Joyce358
  50. 50Norah333
  51. 51Betty326
  52. 52Constance325
  53. 53Lucy325
  54. 54Marian320
  55. 55Marion303
  56. 56Amy300
  57. 57Ruth295
  58. 58Nancy287
  59. 59Bessie280
  60. 60Freda278
  61. 61Bertha275
  62. 62Clara274
  63. 63Dora270
  64. 64Gwendoline270
  65. 65Hannah267
  66. 66Martha263
  67. 67Ida257
  68. 68Minnie252
  69. 69Ann250
  70. 70Barbara238
  71. 71Grace232
  72. 72Emma221
  73. 73Esther203
  74. 74Eleanor188
  75. 75Margery188
  76. 76Iris184
  77. 77Marie178
  78. 78Maud178
  79. 79Louisa169
  80. 80Laura159
  81. 81Helen157
  82. 82Doreen156
  83. 83Eveline154
  84. 84Veronica154
  85. 85Josephine149
  86. 86Mona141
  87. 87Daisy138
  88. 88Millicent138
  89. 89Mildred137
  90. 90Enid133
  91. 91Audrey131
  92. 92Harriet130
  93. 93Jennie127
  94. 94Olwen125
  95. 95Maggie119
  96. 96Ruby119
  97. 97Eunice117
  98. 98Isabella117
  99. 99Sylvia114
  100. 100Beryl105

Boys

  1. 1John6,794
  2. 2William4,947
  3. 3James3,586
  4. 4Thomas3,475
  5. 5George3,212
  6. 6Arthur2,105
  7. 7Joseph2,021
  8. 8Robert1,799
  9. 9Albert1,724
  10. 10Harold1,615
  11. 11Harry1,587
  12. 12Frank1,508
  13. 13Charles1,439
  14. 14Frederick1,361
  15. 15Edward1,279
  16. 16Ernest1,151
  17. 17Alfred1,033
  18. 18Eric996
  19. 19Walter967
  20. 20Richard939
  21. 21Henry910
  22. 22Herbert898
  23. 23Stanley898
  24. 24Jack872
  25. 25Norman783
  26. 26Ronald742
  27. 27Leonard725
  28. 28Kenneth710
  29. 29Francis686
  30. 30Fred684
  31. 31Samuel621
  32. 32Douglas615
  33. 33David582
  34. 34Wilfred551
  35. 35Cyril550
  36. 36Reginald481
  37. 37Clifford434
  38. 38Peter399
  39. 39Sidney382
  40. 40Bernard349
  41. 41Alan294
  42. 42Raymond287
  43. 43Donald273
  44. 44Percy267
  45. 45Edwin261
  46. 46Geoffrey242
  47. 47Jean232
  48. 48Philip224
  49. 49Tom220
  50. 50Gordon210
  51. 51Horace208
  52. 52Alexander206
  53. 53Hugh201
  54. 54Arnold191
  55. 55Benjamin186
  56. 56Maurice184
  57. 57Lawrence183
  58. 58Dennis176
  59. 59Victor174
  60. 60Patrick170
  61. 61Daniel166
  62. 62Michael166
  63. 63Denis143
  64. 64Ralph143
  65. 65Cecil138
  66. 66Vincent137
  67. 67Christopher132
  68. 68Stephen124
  69. 69Edgar123
  70. 70Gerald116
  71. 71Gilbert115
  72. 72Roy115
  73. 73Roland112
  74. 74Allan110
  75. 75Owen106
  76. 76Gerard105
  77. 77Andrew104
  78. 78Edmund101
  79. 79Colin99
  80. 80Anthony91
  81. 81Lewis91
  82. 82Clarence89
  83. 83Hubert73
  84. 84Evan72
  85. 85Willie71
  86. 86Matthew68
  87. 87Bertram65
  88. 88Noel63
  89. 89Alec62
  90. 90Louis62
  91. 91Martin58
  92. 92Isaac55
  93. 93Wilfrid55
  94. 94Gwilym53
  95. 95Abraham52
  96. 96Bert52
  97. 97Jesse52
  98. 98Louie51
  99. 99Rowland51
  100. 100Allen49

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Where the counts come from: the US from Social Security card records from 1880 (names given to at least 5 babies in a year; years before about 1937 count fewer people, because the cards started then), and before 1880 from Douglas Galbi's tables of a census sample. England and Wales from the Office for National Statistics from 1996, and before that from Stephen Bush's study of local birth records, a sample of about 120,000 births a year (CC BY 4.0). Scotland from National Records of Scotland. Northern Ireland from NISRA. France from INSEE, first names and last names. Italy from ISTAT (CC BY 4.0), the top 50 names a year. Berlin from the city's open data (CC BY 3.0 DE), counting only the first of a child's names. UK figures are Crown copyright, used under the Open Government Licence. US last names from the 2020 census, and before 1850 from the 1790 census. Irish last names from Robert Matheson's report on the births of 1890. Italian last names from the City of Florence (CC BY 4.0). Norwegian last names from Statistics Norway (CC BY 4.0).

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