Names That Peaked In 1918

These names hit their all-time highest U.S. ranking in 1918 and have never ranked as high since — the sound of that moment, frozen in the data. (The #1 names that year were Mary and John — reigning champions usually peak in a different year than they reign.)

Peaked in 1917 Peaked in 1919 Full 1918 top 100 The 1910s as a whole

Name & meaning	Babies 2025 · rank	5-year rank movement	Peak year
Frances	960#318	Up 100 rank positions in five years	1918
Irene	442#651	Down 31 rank positions in five years	1921
Victor	1,664#211	Down 11 rank positions in five years	1990
Lloyd	111#1,549	Up 180 rank positions in five years	1918
Lyle	211#1,047	Down 37 rank positions in five years	1922
Nick	124#1,447	Down 26 rank positions in five years	1960
Merle	33#3,484	Down 98 rank positions in five years	1925
Thaddeus	314#798	Down 12 rank positions in five years	2016
Armand	28#3,851	Down 647 rank positions in five years	1918
Iona	65#2,667	Up 407 rank positions in five years	1918
Berniece	—Unranked	—	1918
Evalyn	151#1,430	Down 355 rank positions in five years	2014
Harland	73#2,045	Up 1,250 rank positions in five years	1922
Carlyle	20#4,887	Down 593 rank positions in five years	1918
Georgetta	5#15,699	new	1946
Berneice	—Unranked	—	1918
Verl	—Unranked	—	1918
Dorathy	—Unranked	—	1921
Victory	33#4,346	Down 1,750 rank positions in five years	1918
Carmel	11#7,276	Up 5,080 rank positions in five years	1918
Winifred	—Unranked	—	1918
Masao	—Unranked	—	1918
Aldona	—Unranked	—	1920
Luverne	—Unranked	—	1918
Woodroe	—Unranked	—	1918
Pershing	—Unranked	—	1918

Page 1 of 1

How this list is built

A name “peaked” in 1918 when that year holds its best-ever position in the national rankings — rank, not raw count, because raw counts track how many babies were born and would pile every “peak” into the boom years. To qualify, a name must have reached the top 1,000 at its height and have at least 500 all-time applications. Lists are ordered by that peak rank.

Ranks come from U.S. births, counted separately for girls and boys. “Unranked” today means fewer than 5 applications in the latest year — uncommon, never invalid.