babynamepicker

Classic Baby Names

Names that have stayed in the top 500 for most of the last century — at least 50 of the 100 years to 2025. The 100 steadiest, longest-serving first.

All 100 names

  1. Oliver boys 14,939
  2. Charlotte girls 13,400
  3. Theodore boys 13,355
  4. Emma girls 12,754
  5. Amelia girls 12,699
  6. Henry boys 12,020
  7. James boys 11,945
  8. William boys 10,545
  9. Benjamin boys 9,762
  10. Evelyn girls 9,123
  11. Jack boys 8,748
  12. Samuel boys 8,334
  13. Leo boys 8,173
  14. Michael boys 8,094
  15. Daniel boys 8,085
  16. John boys 8,027
  17. Julian boys 7,603
  18. Joseph boys 7,303
  19. Alexander boys 7,230
  20. Matthew boys 7,003
  21. Thomas boys 6,917
  22. David boys 6,794
  23. Elizabeth girls 6,760
  24. Gabriel boys 6,569
  25. Nora girls 6,380
  26. Jacob boys 6,152
  27. Anthony boys 5,967
  28. Isaac boys 5,953
  29. Charles boys 5,898
  30. Wesley boys 5,578
  31. Emily girls 5,451
  32. Grace girls 5,127
  33. Nathan boys 4,975
  34. Christopher boys 4,748
  35. Naomi girls 4,644
  36. Andrew boys 4,497
  37. Adrian boys 4,464
  38. Josephine girls 4,126
  39. Aaron boys 4,041
  40. Victoria girls 4,027
  41. Lillian girls 3,966
  42. Leah girls 3,880
  43. Arthur boys 3,847
  44. Robert boys 3,772
  45. Jose boys 3,678
  46. Ruby girls 3,554
  47. Alice girls 3,547
  48. Adam boys 3,501
  49. Dominic boys 3,277
  50. Vincent boys 3,267
  51. Nicholas boys 3,115
  52. Lorenzo boys 3,065
  53. Audrey girls 2,919
  54. Maria girls 2,887
  55. Dean boys 2,876
  56. George boys 2,848
  57. Natalie girls 2,736
  58. Sarah girls 2,710
  59. Calvin boys 2,710
  60. Lydia girls 2,692
  61. Caroline girls 2,646
  62. Nathaniel boys 2,565
  63. Anna girls 2,521
  64. Cecilia girls 2,506
  65. Luis boys 2,475
  66. Charlie boys 2,460
  67. Margaret girls 2,436
  68. Carlos boys 2,418
  69. Rose girls 2,386
  70. Juan boys 2,318
  71. Esther girls 2,277
  72. Ivan boys 2,240
  73. Mary girls 2,230
  74. Julia girls 2,172
  75. Eva girls 2,154
  76. Jesus boys 2,078
  77. Felix boys 2,064
  78. Antonio boys 2,058
  79. Max boys 2,025
  80. Jesse boys 2,002
  81. Peter boys 1,954
  82. Alan boys 1,915
  83. Ruth girls 1,781
  84. Timothy boys 1,734
  85. Annie girls 1,690
  86. Katherine girls 1,670
  87. Abraham boys 1,664
  88. Victor boys 1,664
  89. Miguel boys 1,661
  90. Joel boys 1,633
  91. Oscar boys 1,620
  92. Molly girls 1,601
  93. Edward boys 1,591
  94. Sara girls 1,568
  95. Grant boys 1,555
  96. Alex boys 1,515
  97. Richard boys 1,505
  98. Patrick boys 1,495
  99. Dallas boys 1,475
  100. Mark boys 1,416

What makes a name classic

Oliver heads the list, inside the top 500 in 100 of the 100 years to 2025. The test is endurance rather than height: a name that spent fifty years in the four hundreds qualifies, and a name that was number one for five years and then vanished does not.

100 of the hundred managed every single one of those 100 years. The median on this list is 100 years and the shortest is 100, which is the threshold — half the window, and the reason the list is a hundred names long rather than a thousand.

100 of the hundred are still in the top 500 in 2025, and 53 are still in the top 100, so this is not a list of names that have been retired. 34 are ranked among girls and 66 among boys. All of them were already in the record when it opens in 1880, 145 years ago — which is what a century inside the top 500 requires, and why no name that arrived recently can appear here however popular it has become.

Questions about classic baby names

What makes a name classic?

Staying in the top 500 for most of the last century. Every name on this list managed it in at least half of the 100 years to 2025.

Which name has lasted longest?

Oliver, inside the top 500 in 100 of the last 100 years.