Updated June 16, 2014.

When the most popular names for any given year are published, honestly from year to year there is not a great difference. Sure, certain names fall or rise a few points, but I really cannot recall being surprised by popular baby name lists that come out.

(Before reading on, post your guesses of the most common baby names of the century.)

However, recently when I started investigating the history of popularity of names, I was very surprised to learn what the most popular baby names of the past 100 years have been.

While I certainly was not surprised to see names like Mary, Elizabeth and Jennifer top popularity lists for girls and John, William, and Michael on the boys' names list, I was caught a little off guard with the appearance of Linda, Patricia, Charles and Donald to the party.

As you compare the most popular names from the past 100 years with the most current top baby names list, you'll notice some differences as well as similarities.

Comparing the Most Popular Names of the Century With Current Lists

Let's just take a peak at the top 10 names of the past century. The only names to stake a claim on last year's top ten list are Michael, William, and Elizabeth. What I find interesting is to look at which names on the top 10 of the century fall somewhere in last year's top 100 ranking. You'll notice a big difference in similarity between this list and the girl's and boy's lists.

On the girl's list, Jessica is the only name in the top 10 for the century that makes the cut. However, on the boy's list every name in the top 10 of the century save one (Poor Richard!) managed to secure a spot on the top 100 list.

This list might make you reconsider what makes a name "popular." Certainly, names that are currently popular may not mean that they have longevity of use. And without further ado, here is the list of the top 100 names from the past 100 years.

Related Reading: The Top 50 Most Popular Names for Dogs and Their Relationship To Popular Baby Names

Most Popular Names 1911-2010

Rank	Boy Name	Number of Births	Girl Name	Number of Births
1	James	4,873,581	Mary	3,696,779
2	John	4,773,654	Patricia	1,566,692
3	Robert	4,676,298	Elizabeth	1,455,480
4	Michael	4,230,343	Jennifer	1,455,078
5	William	3,751,295	Linda	1,446,268
6	David	3,501,167	Barbara	1,422,096
7	Richard	2,515,816	Susan	1,108,242
8	Joseph	2,423,585	Margaret	1,106,767
9	Charles	2,210,908	Dorothy	1,044,917
10	Thomas	2,185,231	Jessica	1,031,222
11	Christopher	1,946,004	Sarah	988,669
12	Daniel	1,793,531	Betty	984,037
13	Matthew	1,494,614	Nancy	982,348
14	Donald	1,397,722	Karen	980,080
15	Paul	1,345,491	Lisa	962,245
16	Anthony	1,341,265	Helen	883,512
17	Mark	1,331,387	Sandra	870,657
18	George	1,303,831	Donna	827,850
19	Steven	1,259,886	Ashley	816,948
20	Kenneth	1,250,601	Kimberly	814,903
21	Edward	1,197,200	Carol	813,369
22	Andrew	1,187,710	Michelle	796,579
23	Brian	1,146,407	Amanda	766,459
24	Kevin	1,128,247	Melissa	741,545
25	Joshua	1,124,192	Laura	740,473
26	Ronald	1,071,178	Emily	738,856
27	Timothy	1,045,799	Deborah	737,223
28	Jason	991,081	Stephanie	727,129
29	Jeffrey	964,267	Rebecca	723,053
30	Gary	895,899	Ruth	719,666
31	Ryan	858,592	Sharon	719,184
32	Eric	851,085	Cynthia	702,255
33	Nicholas	844,211	Kathleen	701,888
34	Stephen	840,064	Anna	696,383
35	Frank	810,597	Shirley	681,086
36	Larry	799,807	Amy	667,618
37	Jacob	791,826	Angela	649,890
38	Jonathan	775,454	Virginia	618,173
39	Scott	764,709	Brenda	603,767
40	Justin	740,098	Catherine	597,385
41	Raymond	737,690	Pamela	592,687
42	Brandon	713,673	Katherine	579,521
43	Gregory	698,624	Christine	573,292
44	Patrick	647,021	Nicole	568,611
45	Samuel	646,277	Janet	551,295
46	Benjamin	624,654	Debra	549,898
47	Dennis	609,661	Carolyn	547,616
48	Jack	607,881	Rachel	537,802
49	Jerry	603,351	Samantha	528,753
50	Walter	553,062	Frances	525,337
51	Alexander	552,356	Heather	522,278
52	Douglas	551,905	Diane	516,995
53	Peter	547,837	Maria	513,074
54	Henry	543,592	Joyce	503,645
55	Tyler	541,340	Julie	501,504
56	Harold	523,743	Martha	487,579
57	Aaron	520,581	Joan	477,768
58	Jose	517,534	Evelyn	472,812
59	Adam	509,780	Kelly	465,714
60	Zachary	494,181	Christina	465,094
61	Carl	474,929	Alice	456,880
62	Nathan	474,420	Marie	456,178
63	Arthur	469,212	Judith	449,030
64	Kyle	459,956	Doris	448,637
65	Gerald	441,535	Ann	447,794
66	Lawrence	437,050	Jean	446,652
67	Albert	436,830	Lauren	445,128
68	Roger	433,743	Cheryl	438,696
69	Keith	428,854	Emma	431,294
70	Joe	420,736	Megan	428,400
71	Terry	418,988	Victoria	427,002
72	Jeremy	417,112	Kathryn	425,157
73	Willie	409,787	Jacqueline	411,346
74	Sean	400,964	Andrea	411,170
75	Ralph	389,101	Gloria	406,609
76	Jesse	382,299	Teresa	405,678
77	Billy	379,610	Rose	405,511
78	Bruce	375,108	Janice	403,723
79	Roy	372,318	Sara	398,100
80	Austin	362,392	Mildred	391,435
81	Eugene	361,842	Julia	388,987
82	Bryan	360,132	Theresa	387,174
83	Louis	358,101	Judy	380,600
84	Harry	354,509	Beverly	375,590
85	Christian	352,661	Hannah	372,959
86	Wayne	347,505	Denise	369,519
87	Russell	338,664	Grace	368,520
88	Alan	328,702	Marilyn	365,212
89	Philip	326,516	Amber	362,137
90	Howard	323,690	Danielle	357,831
91	Randy	323,134	Brittany	353,486
92	Jordan	322,088	Jane	351,181
93	Juan	315,869	Diana	347,984
94	Bobby	310,698	Lori	339,910
95	Vincent	307,334	Kathy	332,472
96	Ethan	305,144	Tammy	331,317
97	Johnny	301,711	Tiffany	331,101
98	Phillip	298,532	Crystal	324,482
99	Fred	297,481	Lillian	319,832
100	Craig	296,607	Phyllis	318,976