What's old is new again!
What Is the “100-Year Rule” for Baby Names—And What Does It Mean for the Next Big Trend?
Published on Apr. 22, 2025
When I was pregnant, I wanted to put Olive and Elsie, my grandmothers’ names, on the list of possibilities for the baby. But both old-fashioned monikers seemed like true outliers at the time (and neither appealed to my husband), so they quickly dropped out of contention. And yet, if I had stuck to my guns, I would have learned that these and other old-timey baby names are actually trendy in a very specific way.
The baby-naming style is called the “100-year rule,” and it makes perfect sense if your vibe, like mine, skews decidedly vintage. But what is this rule, exactly, and which names are bubbling up to the top of the popularity lists right now? Read on to find out which baby names you might see everywhere in the next few years—and how to predict the next big trend so you’re ahead of the curve.
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What is the 100-year rule, exactly?
Coined by the co-founders of Nameberry, this trend describes the cyclical nature of baby names and the fact that some return to the forefront after about a century. And the beauty of the rule? Your pick may suddenly seem fresh and new in a nostalgic way since no one you know has the same one.
“Just like fashion trends, after a few decades on the outs, names that were popular in the 1920s are cool again,” confirms Rebekah Wahlberg, a BabyCenter editor who specializes in baby-name trends. Whether moms and dads are drawn to vintage names to honor a family member or just love the sound or feeling of them, “parents are bringing back Roaring ’20s names once more,” she adds.
Some celebrities have already tapped into the 100-year rule with old-fashioned baby names. Maya Rudolph, for example, hit the 1920s trend hard with three of her children: Lucille, Pearl and Minnie. Yankees star Aaron Judge and his wife named their daughter Nora earlier this year. And my own fav, Olive, has found love again too, as both Drew Barrymore and Isla Fisher selected it for their daughters.
Which names are poised for a comeback in 2025?
It’s a mix of the tried-and-true classics and the more 1920s-specific monikers, as we discovered from checking out the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) list from a century ago. In particular, says Wahlberg, watch for Florence, Louise, June, Lucille, Vera and Alma. “All of these ranked in the top 100 girls’ names in 1925 but then later fell out of popularity,” Wahlberg says. “Now, they’re rising again, with BabyCenter parents registering them in real-time in recent years—which means they may make their way back into the top 100 soon.”
Leon, Arthur and Harvey were all in the top 100 boys’ names in 1925, but their popularity has also since waned. “However, they’ve all been slowly gaining momentum,” Wahlberg adds, “and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them make it back into the top 100 in the next few years.”
Based on the reporting from the parenting site The Everymom, plus the SSA’s database from 100-plus years ago, here are more girls’ and boys’ names that are poised to possibly surge again.
Girls’ names due for a comeback
- Billie
- Betty
- Elsie
- Ethel
- Florence
- Irene
- Lena
- Mattie
- Maxine
- Phyllis
- Ruby
- Thelma
- Vera
Boys’ names due for a comeback
- Alfred
- Calvin
- Carl
- Clarence
- Ernest
- Frederick
- Gerald
- Herbert
- Louis
- Melvin
- Norman
- Oscar
- Raymond
Which names are already popular from the 1920s?
There are already several popular names in use from the 1920s, per BabyCenter’s compilation of the top baby names of 2024. For girls, there’s Evelyn (No. 11), Violet (No. 16), Hazel (No. 23) and Eleanor (No. 30). And for boys, there’s James (No. 11), Henry (No. 13), Jack (No. 22) and Benjamin (No. 23). Other top baby names from 1925 that fell out of favor but are now back, according to Wahlberg, include Alice, Josephine, Grace, Hazel, Clara, Emma, Charlotte, Lillian, and Ella for girls, and Leo and Theodore for boys.
And then there are the names that have true staying power, such as Elizabeth, which has been in the top 100 for a century or even longer, along with John, William and James.
Which names probably won’t surge in popularity?
“For every name that’s been in the top 100 since 1925, there’s one that fell out of popularity and likely won’t ever make a comeback,” says Walhberg. These might be names that never really hit it big or carry an unappealing sound.
For example, she explains, “Doris and Mildred, which were in the top 10 girls’ names in 1925, aren’t even in the top 1,000 names anymore. And Harold and Eugene, which were both top 25 boys’ names in 1925, disappeared from the top 1,000 names long ago.” That said, we could see abbreviated versions of these names making a comeback. Just think: There’s Harry for Harold (which also has a royals-inspired flair because of Prince Harry). And let’s not forget the fact that Mildred can be shortened to the adorable—and thoroughly modern—Millie.
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Sources:
- Rebekah Wahlberg, specialist in baby-name trends at BabyCenter; email interview, April 8, 2025
- The Everymom: “The ‘100 year rule’ for baby names: Which names are due for a comeback?
- Social Security Administration: “Popular baby names from 1926”
- Nameberry: “How Nameberry Invented Baby Names”
