Which baby names follow the hundred-year rule and are ready for a comeback from the 1919 popularity list? At the beginning of each new year, Nameberry likes to take a century-long look back hoping to discover some lost names that could be perfect today.
In 1919, World War I was finally over and the emphasis was on preserving peace as the Treaty of Versailles was signed, and the League of Nations was founded. In the US, Prohibition went into effect, and Babe Ruth joined the Yankees.
The year 1919 saw the births of J. D. Salinger, Jackie Robinson, and Nat King Cole; the debut of Felix the Cat and the passing of Theodore Roosevelt; and there were new literary works by Proust, Kafka, Virginia Woolf and Thomas Hardy.
And how about baby names? As they were for so long, John and Mary still topped the list, to be followed by William and Helen, James and Dorothy, Robert and Margaret and Charles and Ruth. But diving deeper into the list, the folks at Nameberry were able to unearth 100 names from the 1919 Top 1,000 that have disappeared from today’s list ― but have the potential to find their way back.
This year, they’ve found some particularly promising word names for boys, and nickname names for both genders.
Girls
Nickname Names
Betty*
Effie
Flossie
Kitty
Libby
Lottie*
Lulu
Mamie*
Mazie
Minnie*
Nellie*
Polly
Sally*
Tillie
Winnie
Other
Agatha
Alta*
Antonia
Augusta
Celestine
Cleo*
Consuelo
Cordelia
Dixie
Edwina
Etta
Eulalia
Garnet
Geneva*
Georgiana
Ida
Lavinia
Lelia
Leonora
Lucinda
Maude
Millicent
Myrtle*
Odessa
Ouida
Philomena
Prudence
Rosamond
Theodora
Verona
Viva
Winifred
Zella
Zenobia
Boys
Nickname Names
Archie*
Freddie
Fritz
Ike
Ned
Ollie
Pete
Rollie
Teddy
Word Names
Booker
Early
Garland
Loyal
Noble
Sylvan
Urban
Other
Abner
Ambrose
Angus
Burl
Casper
Chester*
Claude*
Clemens
Clovis
Constantine
Cornelius
Dewey
Dorsey
Doyle
Florian
Floyd*
Gardner
Grover*
Hiram
Jennings
Leander
Lemuel
Llewellyn
Metro
Murphy
Olaf
Percy
Perry
Reno
Rogers
Roscoe
Rufus*
Smith
Turner
Virgil*
Wylie
*Starred names were in the Top 200.