Top Baby Names of 1928

Most popular names for boys and girls in 1928.

What the Data Says About 1928

The Social Security Administration's national 1928 file shows 1,559,326 births concentrated in the top 100 boy and top 100 girl names, the segment of U.S. baby-name data released to the public for that year. The #1 boy name of 1928 was Robert, with 60,701 births registered nationally. The #1 girl name of 1928 was Mary, with 66,872 births nationally. The top 100 boys captured 807,568 births compared with 751,758 for the top 100 girls — consistent with the historical SSA pattern in which a smaller pool of boy names dominates a larger share of annual births while girl names are more evenly distributed.

1928 sits within a specific era of U.S. naming trends. Pre-1940 years are dominated by traditional biblical and English names — John, William, Mary, and Helen consistently occupy the top ranks, and the top 10 names account for a much larger share of all births than in later decades. Robert and Mary leading 1928 fits this broader cultural signature.

These rankings come directly from Social Security Administration card applications and represent approximately 96% of all U.S. births in 1928. Names with fewer than five occurrences nationally in 1928 are excluded from SSA's public file to protect privacy, meaning the true number of unique names given in 1928 is significantly larger than any public top-100 list can show. Each spelling variation is counted separately — Sophia and Sofia, Aiden and Ayden — so rankings reflect only the specific spelling filed on the SS card, not combined name pools. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute naming advice.

← 1927
1928
1929 →

Top 100 Boys' Names Boy

Rank Name Births
1 Robert 60,701
2 John 53,761
3 James 52,753
4 William 49,119
5 Charles 31,244
6 Richard 28,794
7 Donald 25,705
8 George 24,391
9 Joseph 22,319
10 Edward 18,492
11 Thomas 16,582
12 Frank 13,570
13 Paul 13,159
14 Harold 12,669
15 Jack 12,494
16 Raymond 11,947
17 Kenneth 11,167
18 Walter 10,651
19 David 9,992
20 Eugene 9,709
21 Henry 9,313
22 Arthur 8,880
23 Albert 8,812
24 Ralph 8,100
25 Herbert 8,065
26 Harry 7,604
27 Billy 7,310
28 Carl 6,946
29 Willie 6,817
30 Joe 6,682
31 Howard 6,496
32 Louis 6,297
33 Alfred 6,252
34 Roy 6,229
35 Clarence 6,068
36 Fred 6,036
37 Earl 5,966
38 Lawrence 5,596
39 Norman 5,590
40 Francis 5,516
41 Gerald 5,487
42 Leonard 5,130
43 Ernest 4,941
44 Anthony 4,718
45 Stanley 4,481
46 Marvin 4,452
47 Daniel 4,426
48 Melvin 4,249
49 Bernard 4,067
50 Ronald 3,969
51 Leroy 3,871
52 Samuel 3,844
53 Michael 3,598
54 Floyd 3,338
55 Russell 3,325
56 Peter 3,300
57 Ray 3,248
58 Edwin 3,166
59 Lloyd 3,158
60 Andrew 3,142
61 Leo 3,095
62 Gene 3,088
63 Bill 2,977
64 Elmer 2,977
65 Bobby 2,971
66 Theodore 2,917
67 Frederick 2,882
68 Clifford 2,862
69 Wayne 2,855
70 Vernon 2,852
71 Roger 2,774
72 Alvin 2,750
73 Philip 2,726
74 Clyde 2,714
75 Dale 2,640
76 Glenn 2,603
77 Gordon 2,596
78 Herman 2,588
79 Jerry 2,588
80 Charlie 2,463
81 Leon 2,460
82 Vincent 2,440
83 Martin 2,427
84 Don 2,382
85 Warren 2,362
86 Lewis 2,339
87 Lee 2,282
88 Chester 2,243
89 Lester 2,229
90 Harvey 2,187
91 Jesse 2,171
92 Milton 2,170
93 Allen 2,136
94 Calvin 2,128
95 Bob 2,093
96 Gilbert 2,048
97 Cecil 2,005
98 Arnold 1,974
99 Victor 1,946
100 Jimmie 1,924

Top 100 Girls' Names Girl

Rank Name Births
1 Mary 66,872
2 Betty 36,083
3 Dorothy 33,733
4 Helen 22,937
5 Margaret 20,295
6 Ruth 17,859
7 Doris 16,574
8 Barbara 14,872
9 Virginia 14,500
10 Shirley 14,215
11 Patricia 12,331
12 Jean 12,209
13 Frances 12,137
14 Elizabeth 11,767
15 Mildred 11,652
16 Anna 10,575
17 Evelyn 10,533
18 Lois 10,425
19 Alice 10,139
20 Dolores 9,614
21 Marie 9,286
22 Martha 8,252
23 Norma 8,165
24 Rose 8,161
25 Gloria 8,119
26 Phyllis 7,924
27 Joan 7,854
28 Irene 7,731
29 Marjorie 7,632
30 Joyce 7,244
31 Louise 7,053
32 Florence 6,970
33 Catherine 6,910
34 Ruby 6,692
35 Lillian 6,577
36 Eleanor 6,535
37 Annie 6,329
38 Marilyn 6,066
39 Lorraine 5,982
40 Thelma 5,978
41 Gladys 5,791
42 Josephine 5,671
43 Nancy 5,537
44 June 5,517
45 Edna 5,473
46 Beverly 5,437
47 Marion 5,420
48 Pauline 5,391
49 Theresa 5,331
50 Geraldine 5,156
51 Lucille 5,094
52 Grace 4,989
53 Bernice 4,943
54 Ann 4,932
55 Ethel 4,928
56 Edith 4,846
57 Rita 4,810
58 Juanita 4,734
59 Hazel 4,649
60 Audrey 4,630
61 Donna 4,470
62 Jane 4,411
63 Wanda 4,318
64 Sarah 4,244
65 Clara 4,106
66 Esther 4,096
67 Emma 4,017
68 Elaine 4,005
69 Wilma 3,937
70 Beatrice 3,923
71 Marian 3,886
72 Charlotte 3,475
73 Elsie 3,470
74 Willie 3,443
75 Katherine 3,398
76 Peggy 3,382
77 Carol 3,349
78 Vivian 3,310
79 Eva 3,212
80 Julia 3,206
81 Bertha 3,161
82 Kathleen 3,151
83 Laura 3,146
84 Maxine 3,124
85 Agnes 3,023
86 Gertrude 3,011
87 Ida 2,995
88 Rosemary 2,972
89 Bonnie 2,923
90 Jeanne 2,879
91 Carolyn 2,847
92 Vera 2,842
93 Anne 2,824
94 Delores 2,810
95 Janet 2,782
96 Billie 2,777
97 Jacqueline 2,739
98 Ellen 2,682
99 Kathryn 2,681
100 Ella 2,670
← 1927
1929 →

Nearby Year & Decade Rankings

Compare 1928 with adjacent years and the surrounding decade

1927 Top Names
National top 100
1929 Top Names
National top 100
1920s Decade
Decade-level rollup
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Compare 1928 leaders: Robert vs Mary → or pick any two names →

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

Source: SSA Baby Names Methodology — names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are excluded to protect privacy.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from official U.S. government datasets. See our methodology for details.