Most popular baby names of 1915

The top three names for both boys and girls in America showed remarkable stability between 1914 and 1915. John, William, and James held their ground as the top three boys' names for the second consecutive year, maintaining their exact rankings. Similarly, Mary, Helen, and Dorothy remained the uncontested favorites for girls, showing no movement in the top positions. This consistency suggests American parents continued to favor traditional naming patterns during this period, despite the backdrop of World War I unfolding in Europe.

Looking at the broader landscape of girls' names in the top 10, we see Marie dropped one position from #10 to #11, allowing Evelyn to climb into the 10th spot. Ruth, Margaret, Anna, Mildred, Elizabeth, and Frances maintained their positions between 4th and 9th places, showing remarkable consistency. Interestingly, Virginia made a notable climb from #14 to #12, suggesting this name was gaining popularity during this period, potentially pointing to a growing trend toward place-names for girls.

Among the top 10 boys' names, Thomas showed the most movement, climbing from #11 to #10, displacing Walter who fell to #11. The rest of the top 10 remained impressively stable with Robert, Joseph, George, Charles, Edward, and Frank maintaining their exact positions from the previous year. This steadiness in boys' naming patterns reflects the strong traditional values of the era, with biblical and royal names continuing to dominate the rankings.

When examining broader naming patterns, short, traditional biblical and royal names clearly dominated for boys, with John, James, William, and Joseph all appearing in the top rankings. For girls, classic feminine names ending in "y" or the "ee" sound were particularly popular, as seen with Mary, Dorothy, and Marie. Names with biblical or religious connections appeared frequently in both genders. Notably, the name Ruth ranked #5 for girls, while Joseph ranked #5 for boys, showing America's continued connection to faith-inspired naming traditions during this period.

Top baby names of 1915