tom dick and harry don't have anything on this list today we're taking stock of the
most popular baby names through the decades why was every girl from middle school named ashley why
are all of your exes named matt why is every woman over 50 named karen sit back and let us explain
first on our list might be affectionately called bob bobby or bobert but formerly it's
robert famous in the 1920s the name robert was taken from the germanic name meaning bright fame
a little on the nose if you ask us with legends like robert de niro and
robert downey jr still dominating our screens today robert is pretty timeless
mary mary quite contrary you are popular as heck mary has been around since the 12th century
and has been one of the most popular feminine names since the 1500s having daughters called
mary was especially popular among christian families because of its iconic biblical ties
jimmy jamming into the 1930s it's james though it's been around for thousands of years the name
grew very popular after scottish king james vi inherited the english throne in the 17th century
something about james just screams leadership as six james's have occupied the white house
over the years making it the most common first name of the american presidency
it's america's most consistently popular name hail to the chief james a name that's
its own slang betty is next on our list betty is technically a nickname for elizabeth which
became extremely popular after the reign of queen elizabeth the first in the 16th century
since a trend with popular baby names correlating to the rulers of the era people are still loving
the name betty today taylor swift even gave the moniker to a song on her 2020 album folklore
john was the bee's knees in the 1940s its meaning is god is gracious but it's been euphemistically
used as slang for everything from a toilet to a solicitor of prostitution and in the long form
warm pants derived from the hebrew name yahweh john owes much of its long-term popularity to
biblical characters john the baptist and john the apostle whether lenin kennedy or wayne john's have
always made headlines the next name on our list is derived from the ancient germanic word meaning
soft and mild and the spanish and portuguese word for pretty and beautiful linda the name started
to gain popularity in the 1930s peaking in the 40s a popular diminutive for the name is lynn
not always the perfect angel it's michael starting its sword of popularity in the 1930s michael
reached the number one spot in 1954 and stayed at number one straight through 1998. over 40 years at
the top of the list michael's long hold on number one makes it one of the greatest names of all time
everyone wants to be like mike next on our list is everyone's favorite arquette patricia the feminine
version of patrick patricia wasn't really used as a name until it hit the scene in 18th century
scotland centuries later it rose to popularity in the 1950s ranking in the top 10 of the decade
patty patsy trish tricia there's near a dozen diminutives we love this mid-century classic
next up it's the second best arquette hi david it boasts biblical origins and is well known
thanks to the story of david versus goliath david has always ranked in the top 30 boys names in the
u.s since they started keeping records and was the number one boy's name in britain during the 1950s
and 60s giving us legendary davids such as bowie beckham and tenet cheers lads everybody remain
calm it's karen despite the amount of shade karen's are receiving these days
in the 60s it was the most popular name for baby girls thanks to an early 2000s
joke by dane cook karen became an adjective describing the friend that nobody likes today
the meaning has morphed to describe a woman usually white who commits acts in public that
are perceived to be racist or unjust let's just say meme culture has not been kind
names don't get more biblical than christ it's christopher early christians began using the name
to show that they carried christ in their hearts and on their id cards christopher became wildly
popular in the u.s in the late 20th century and remained in the top 10 until just a few years ago
hollywood has seen a number of famous christopher's over the years and we just
can't decide who's best the classic friend up next is jen well jennifer a cornish form of the
welsh name gwynefer jennifer only began being commonly used outside of cornwall in the early
1900s and exploded in international popularity in the 70s nowhere was it more ubiquitous than
in north america where jens seemed to define a generation the wildly popular film love story
made jennifer the new juliet but if you ask us love means never having to say you're jam
the next name on our list might think they're god's gift because that's the original meaning
of matthew this common biblical name traces its origins back to the hebrew word meaning gift of
god it soared in popularity in the 80s thanks to matthew broderick in his hit film ferris
bueller's day off matthews mats and maddie's were soon everywhere leaving teachers to drone
matthew matthew matthew not many names on this list can claim
shakespearean origins but jessica can having first appeared in the play merchant of venice
reaching peak popularity in the mid 80s jessica held on to the number one spot from 1985 to 1995.
see there's a reason half of your middle school homeroom was named jess
being moses's sidekick gets you some major cred including making your name famous joshua is based
on the hebrew name meaning god is salvation and began being used as an english name in
16th century europe joshua exploded to popularity in the late 20th century ranking in the top five
for a solid decade between 1990 and 2000 famous joshuas include jackson dumel and chaze yep jc
is secretly a josh the top girl's name of the 90s ashley though technically gender-neutral
was commonly used as a boy's name in the u.s until it transitioned into a girl's name
starting in the 1960s and exploded in popularity reaching number one in the ranking through the 90s
a variation on the ash tree we know ashley's as tisdales judds and half of the olsen twins
though derived from the same origin as the most common boy's name of all time jacob ain't no james
slower to gain popularity jacob finally popped off in the 2000s taking rank as the number one
boy's name from 1999-2012 diminutives include kobe and jeb but jake is really
what gave this name the boost thanks in small part to early 2000s teen idol jake gyllenhaal
yowza the roman empire didn't last nearly as long as our next name which got its origins
from the roman word emilius it's emily meaning to strive or excel emily did just that bounding
to the top of the charts in the early 2000s from classic literatures bronte and dickinson
two modern screens blunt and deschanel emilies have spent generations striving for excellence
known for his big boat the next name on our list rose to the top of the pool centuries later it's
noah the name first became common in the 1980s but became one of the most popular boys names of
the 2010s thanks to the boom there are quite a few preteen noahs floating around today emma that's a
popular name emma's gained international rank as the most popular girl's name in the early 2010s
throughout the us and europe emma's were truly everywhere in the early odds thanks to the popular
teen films of the day hats off to stone watson and roberts emma's everywhere owe you a debt
there wasn't much else to do in 2020 besides watch docu-series so something tells us that the last
dance has a lot to do with jordan topping the gender-neutral name charts these days
though it was one of the leading gender-neutral names of the 90s during michael jordan's reign as
king of the court it's still popular as ever truly a goat name for any gender many irish surnames
have made for excellent gender-neutral first names over the years c ryan kelly and quinn and the most
popular 2020 baby name riley riley has been rising in popularity as a gender-neutral name in the us
over the last decade landing it at the top in 2020 parents are all riled up over riley
if you didn't see your name on this list don't dismay you're just unique for every james there
is a jaime for every john there is a jonathan and for every robert there is a bobert sorry bobert
well that's it for us we got a jet karen just showed up and she is not happy
you