What's in a First Name? From Mary and John to Kayden and Taylor

A look at how baby names reflect changing identity, culture, and family history

Then and Now: A Century of Baby Names

The five most popular baby names of the 2010s for boys were Noah, Liam, Jacob, William, and Mason, while for girls they were Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Isabella, and Ava, according to the Social Security Administration. Looking back 100 years, the top five names for each sex in the 1910s were John, William, James, Robert, Joseph, Mary, Helen, Dorothy, Margaret, and Ruth.

Source: Boonville High School yearbook, 1955 (public domain via Picryl)

Will family historians get confused by repeated names, or will today’s more unusual names make people easier to distinguish? Anyone who’s tried to sort out multiple Mike Johnsons might have an opinion.

In the top 100 for the 2010s are Dylan, Riley (female), Levi, Colton, Kennedy (female), and Jace (male), giving parents more variety beyond the traditional top names.

Too Many Lisas, Not Enough Distinction

As one of many Lisas or Jennifers attending school in the 1970s, you were probably known as Lisa H., Jennifer R., and so on.

Recent decades have seen less repetition, as parents increasingly choose unique or gender-neutral names to avoid potential discrimination in the workplace.

The Trend Toward Unisex Names

Depending on the source, Taylor Swift's parents reportedly named her Taylor because it was unisex, and they were fans of the musician James Taylor.

She wasn't alone. While Taylor was a top-10 girls' name in the 1990s, it quickly declined. In 2024, it ranked No. 353 for girls' names, even with the rising super-stardom of Ms. Swift.

Names and Identity

According to the BBC, baby-naming trends are a product of our evolving cultures; they shift as children's aspirations shift. Research shows that today’s rising popularity of unique, standalone baby names reflects a move from collectivism to individualistic societies and provides important contextual clues about who parents want their children to be. Wherever you are in the world, parents value distinctive names to help children stand out instead of anonymously fitting in.

When Names Were Changed to Fit In

This was not the case with a relative named Antonia, whose Italian immigrant parents settled in Los Angeles. She quickly changed it to Ann and was thrilled when she fell in love with and married a man who happened to have a top-10 common surname. Ann felt too ethnic or Italian and wanted to blend in at school and the workplace in the 1950s. For some immigrants or first-generation Americans, plain and "normal" made them somehow more American. Many changed their surnames. I have Polish immigrant ancestors who changed their surname from Wlodarski to Smith. Good luck finding them in early 20th-century New Jersey!

What Will Future Genealogists Face?

If we could change our own names, would we? And what would that mean for the family historians trying to find us a century from now, as naming moves further from Mary and John toward names like X Æ A-Xii?