Baby names in Iowa in the 1920s

In Iowa in the 1920s the most given names were Robert (15,356 boys) and Mary (11,404 girls), of 412,084 births recorded.

1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s

Babies SSA recorded in Iowa each year, the 1920s shaded

Births under names given to 5 or more babies of one sex in the state that year.

Iowa, 1920-1929: SSA state baby-name file, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s state data.

The top names in Iowa, 1920s

Girls, 1920-1929
#	Name	Births
1	Mary	11,404
2	Betty	9,146
3	Dorothy	8,368
4	Helen	5,992
5	Ruth	4,979
6	Margaret	4,717
7	Doris	3,678
8	Marjorie	3,494
9	Virginia	3,492
10	Lois	3,369
11	Shirley	3,086
12	Evelyn	2,898
13	Phyllis	2,809
14	Mildred	2,773
15	Jean	2,345
16	Frances	2,333
17	Norma	2,333
18	Alice	2,234
19	Patricia	2,163
20	Barbara	2,133

Boys, 1920-1929
#	Name	Births
1	Robert	15,356
2	John	8,980
3	Donald	8,846
4	William	7,571
5	Richard	6,671
6	James	6,614
7	Charles	5,024
8	Harold	4,401
9	Kenneth	4,077
10	George	3,628
11	Paul	3,319
12	Raymond	3,007
13	Jack	2,785
14	Edward	2,348
15	Dale	2,071
16	Eugene	2,060
17	Wayne	2,024
18	Joseph	2,010
19	Gerald	1,899
20	Thomas	1,850

Births summed over 1920-1929, per sex.

The names most over-represented in Iowa in the 1920s

Each figure is the name’s births in the state in the decade against the births its national share, year by year, would predict (names with at least 100 births in the state).

Girls

Darlene · 11.3×Lavonne · 11.2×Marlys · 10.1×Madonna · 7.7×Lavon · 7.3×Marvel · 6.1×

Boys

Gerrit · 14.1×Merlyn · 9.0×Arlo · 8.4×Daryl · 7.6×Dwayne · 7.1×Laverne · 5.9×

Ratios: observed over predicted births, 1920-1929.

More about names in Iowa

The 1920s across the U.S.The most given names of the decade nationally.
Iowa: 2025 and every year since 1910The state’s top names now and its number ones by year.
Iowa in the 1930sThe next decade in the state.
The top names of 1920The first year of the decade, nationally.
Every state’s most given namesEach state since 1910.
Look up any nameIts rank, births since 1880 and the people alive with it.

Back to Iowa: 2025 and every year since 1910