Vintage Baby Names
Names that reached the U.S. top 300 before 1960, from forgotten favorites to names back in style.
| Save name | Name & meaning | History 1926–2025, yearly counts; individually scaled | Babies 2025 · rank | 5-year rank movement | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noble | 167#1,336 | Down 219 rank positions in five years | 1951 | ||
Tender, soft | 294#902 | Down 87 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Strange, foreign | 264#968 | Down 82 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Prince / chief of the world | 395#690 | Down 81 rank positions in five years | 1934 | ||
Lily | 222#1,091 | Down 116 rank positions in five years | 1955 | ||
Gift of God | 743#421 | Up 114 rank positions in five years | 1924 | ||
Counsel + ruler | 438#638 | Down 79 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Possibly torch or moon; deeper origin disputed | 668#462 | Down 36 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Grace, through Ann; earlier linked with Annis | 265#967 | Down 70 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
My God is an oath, through Elizabeth | 212#1,113 | Up 62 rank positions in five years | 1930 | ||
Member of the Franks; also a short form of Francis or Franklin | 584#514 | Down 86 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Spear | 201#1,073 | Down 266 rank positions in five years | 1952 | ||
Defender of people, through Alessandra | 188#1,210 | Down 107 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Crown; wreath | 829#383 | Down 61 rank positions in five years | 1952 | ||
Lady; also a feminine form of Don or Donald | 98#1,965 | Down 419 rank positions in five years | 1959 | ||
Man, in the Charles family; also song or hymn | 82#2,242 | Down 331 rank positions in five years | 1946 | ||
From Laurentum, through Laurence | 198#1,085 | Down 247 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Counsel + protection | 807#395 | Down 84 rank positions in five years | 1924 | ||
Home ruler | 12,020#5 | Up 4 rank positions in five years | 2025 | ||
Yahweh is gracious, through John | 8,748#15 | Up 6 rank positions in five years | 1927 | ||
Bee | 313#864 | Up 40 rank positions in five years | 1954 | ||
Plain | 179#1,256 | Down 112 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Traditionally pure, through Katherine; deeper origin disputed | 201#1,156 | Down 151 rank positions in five years | 1951 | ||
Woman from Cynthus | 247#1,014 | Down 141 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Bright clearing | 133#1,586 | Down 36 rank positions in five years | 1935 | ||
Traditionally pure; deeper origin disputed | 972#314 | Down 47 rank positions in five years | 1956 | ||
Traditionally maiden or virgin; Roman family name of uncertain origin | 572#526 | Up 55 rank positions in five years | 1922 | ||
Of Dionysus | 381#707 | Down 60 rank positions in five years | 1952 | ||
Several name families: Gerald, Jeremy, Jerome, or Geraldine | 262#907 | Down 306 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Frenchwoman; feminine form of Francis | 960#318 | Up 100 rank positions in five years | 1918 | ||
Possibly all sweetness; a literary creation | 82#2,251 | Down 577 rank positions in five years | 1954 | ||
Dark river | 308#807 | Down 70 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Feminine form of Charles, from a Germanic word meaning man | 185#1,222 | Down 275 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Yahweh is gracious, through Jane | 61#2,791 | Down 780 rank positions in five years | 1954 | ||
Lady; mistress of the household | 393#713 | Up 54 rank positions in five years | 1947 | ||
Army + powerful or mighty | 230#993 | Down 61 rank positions in five years | 1924 | ||
Bee, through Deborah | 31#4,477 | Down 1,018 rank positions in five years | 1955 | ||
Meaning uncertain; possibly a Celtic bear name or related to Artorius | 3,847#87 | Up 76 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Meaning uncertain; French and Czech form of Maria | 474#618 | Down 1 rank positions in five years | 1920 | ||
Divine; goddesslike, through Diana | 66#2,620 | Down 272 rank positions in five years | 1955 | ||
Lord, from Breton Judoc | 226#1,074 | Down 97 rank positions in five years | 1942 | ||
Man, through Karl | 187#1,134 | Down 321 rank positions in five years | 1956 | ||
Noble and bright | 461#614 | Down 91 rank positions in five years | 1921 | ||
Yahweh is gracious, through John | 222#1,087 | Up 460 rank positions in five years | 1932 | ||
Favor; grace, in the Hannah family | 225#1,076 | Up 29 rank positions in five years | 1957 | ||
Dorian woman | 58#2,909 | Down 529 rank positions in five years | 1928 | ||
From Laurentum, through Laurence; the place name may refer to laurel | 578#520 | Up 43 rank positions in five years | 1952 | ||
Yahweh is gracious, through John | 88#2,130 | Up 228 rank positions in five years | 1927 | ||
Jewish woman; woman of Judah | 344#790 | Up 120 rank positions in five years | 1943 | ||
Free man, through Charles | 13,400#2 | Up 3 rank positions in five years | 2025 |
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Sources & methodology
Meaning summaries use Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0) and referenced name histories. Each name’s detail page includes its sources.
Vintage membership uses historical U.S. rankings. This selection includes names now outside the top 1,000, names that have climbed back into the top 300, and names quietly in use between those groups. Rankings and counts come from official SSA birth records. “—” means fewer than five published applications for that sex and year.