Name Legacy

Baby names in New York, 1920s

1920–1929 · 1,943,634 recorded births

John was the most common name given in New York across the 1920s, with 62,178 births in the decade. The state recorded 1,943,634 births in total over those years.

Most distinctive to New York in the 1920s

Names given far more often here than nationally in these years. The multiplier is conservative — it is the low end of the plausible range, so a name carried by a handful of births does not outrank one carried by hundreds.

NameBirthsvs national
Sydelle164
Isidore613
Seymour4,448
Sydell152
Roslyn1,648
Vincenza656
Moe101
Hyman1,003

Top 25 in the 1920s

RankNameBirths
#1John62,178
#2Mary50,928
#3Robert49,390
#4William44,124
#5Joseph41,929
#6Dorothy31,724
#7James29,743
#8Helen29,249
#9George25,945
#10Edward25,651
#11Charles24,228
#12Margaret23,713
#13Frank22,743
#14Richard22,721
#15Ruth21,164
#16Thomas18,290
#17Rose17,650
#18Anna16,612
#19Donald16,480
#20Marie15,878
#21Frances15,473
#22Florence15,277
#23Anthony14,728
#24Elizabeth14,301
#25Shirley14,061

Other decades in New York

All New York names, 2025

Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. State records begin in 1910. Names given to fewer than five babies in a state in a year are withheld at source. namelegacy.org