We looked for US names that hit their highest rank before 1940, dropped away, and are back in the 2025 top 300. Then we sorted them by how far they climbed between 2005 and 2025. Olive, Mabel and June top the girls' list. Each was outside the top 1,700 in 2005 and is inside the top 210 now. For boys, Otto, Harvey and August climbed furthest.
One more finding: some of the best-known "vintage" names, like Theodore, Violet and Eleanor, are more popular now than they ever were in the early 1900s. They sound old, but their real peak is happening now.
How we calculated this
- Data: the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, one file per birth year from 1880 to 2025. The SSA describes the dataset on Data.gov as coming from Social Security card applications for 1880 on.
- Rank: the SSA's readme says each file is sorted by count, with ties listed alphabetically, so rank 1 is the first record for each sex. We used rank rather than raw counts because the number of recorded births changes a lot over 146 years.
- What counts as a "vintage comeback": a name whose best-ever rank (for that sex) came before 1940, that was in the top 100 at that peak, and that is in the 2025 top 300. If a name tied its best rank in several years, we used the earliest one.
- Climb: 2005 rank minus 2025 rank, using a name's position in the full SSA list (not capped at 1,000).
- Caveats: the SSA only lists names given to at least five babies in a year. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so they're missing from the data. The Boston Globe notes the same limit. The data starts in 1880, so a name that "peaked in 1880" may have been just as popular earlier. Treat the early ranks as approximate.
- Reproducible: the script is saved as
vintage-baby-names-comeback-data.data.py, and every number below comes from its output.
The biggest vintage comebacks, girls
| Name | Pre-1940 peak | 2005 rank | 2025 rank | Births in 2025 | Places climbed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olive | #82 in 1893 | 2,117 | 197 | 1,597 | +1,920 |
| Mabel | #15 in 1891 | 1,846 | 201 | 1,522 | +1,645 |
| June | #39 in 1925 | 1,725 | 150 | 1,978 | +1,575 |
| Rosalie | #66 in 1938 | 1,450 | 171 | 1,797 | +1,279 |
| Vera | #65 in 1915 | 1,399 | 205 | 1,482 | +1,194 |
| Elsie | #31 in 1896 | 918 | 123 | 2,236 | +795 |
| Ada | #33 in 1880 | 789 | 219 | 1,401 | +570 |
| Lucille | #27 in 1919 | 802 | 239 | 1,314 | +563 |
| Hazel | #18 in 1897 | 514 | 21 | 6,318 | +493 |
| Alice | #8 in 1880 | 413 | 65 | 3,547 | +348 |
| Cora | #15 in 1880 | 452 | 113 | 2,428 | +339 |
| Genevieve | #76 in 1914 | 395 | 148 | 1,981 | +247 |
What stands out: Mabel was the 15th most common girls' name in 1891. In 2005 it was given to 106 girls, and in 2025 to 1,522. Hazel is the one that has gone furthest. At #21 in 2025 it's only three places below its 1897 peak of #18.
The biggest vintage comebacks, boys
| Name | Pre-1940 peak | 2005 rank | 2025 rank | Births in 2025 | Places climbed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Otto | #63 in 1880 | 1,252 | 277 | 1,241 | +975 |
| Harvey | #51 in 1880 | 1,035 | 251 | 1,381 | +784 |
| August | #74 in 1880 | 636 | 81 | 3,958 | +555 |
| Leon | #73 in 1926 | 524 | 138 | 2,583 | +386 |
| Warren | #24 in 1921 | 551 | 240 | 1,471 | +311 |
| Arthur | #14 in 1880 | 356 | 87 | 3,847 | +269 |
| Charlie | #20 in 1881 | 329 | 145 | 2,460 | +184 |
| Walter | #10 in 1914 | 375 | 252 | 1,381 | +123 |
| Harrison | #52 in 1888 | 211 | 116 | 3,072 | +95 |
| Calvin | #44 in 1924 | 219 | 132 | 2,710 | +87 |
What stands out: the boys' list is shorter and the climbs are smaller. Only 27 boys' names meet our definition, compared with 36 girls' names. Several of them, such as William, John, Charles and Thomas, never really left the top 100, so they're classics rather than comebacks. Arthur is a clear comeback: #15 in 1900, #356 in 2005, #87 in 2025.
Names that sound vintage but are bigger now
These names often appear on "old-fashioned" lists. In the SSA data, their best year is recent:
| Name | Best rank before 1940 | All-time best rank | 2025 rank | Births in 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theodore | #30 in 1904 | #4 in 2024 | 4 | 13,355 |
| Eleanor | #25 in 1920 | #12 in 2025 | 12 | 7,649 |
| Violet | #74 in 1919 | #13 in 2025 | 13 | 7,546 |
| Ezra | #230 in 1881 | #13 in 2024 | 20 | 8,126 |
| Silas | #140 in 1880 | #71 in 2025 | 71 | 4,639 |
That's why they aren't in the comeback tables above. If you want a name with an old-fashioned feel that other children won't share, these names are more common now than they were when they first counted as vintage. For more on recent movers, see our breakdown of the fastest rising baby names in 2025.
What is a very old name that's still rare?
Plenty of names that were in the top 10 before 1940 are now far outside the top 1,000. Bessie was #9 for girls in 1889 and ranked #6,889 in 2025. Bertha (#7 in 1883) ranked #4,569, Ethel (#6 in 1896) #4,211, and Minnie (#5 in 1880) #3,060. For boys, Harry (#8 in 1889) is #775 and Donald (#6 in 1934) is #690. If you want an old name hardly anyone uses, these are the places to look. Whether any of them comes back is anyone's guess.
Which vintage names are most popular right now?
Among names that peaked before 1940, the highest-ranked in 2025 are Elizabeth (#17), Hazel (#21), Grace (#38), Josephine (#53), Lillian (#57), Clara (#63) and Ruby (#64) for girls. For boys they are William (#9), Samuel (#18), John (#23), Joseph (#29) and Thomas (#34). Most of the boys' names never fell far, while names like Hazel and Clara (#246 in 2005) went away and came back.
How to use this list
- Pick the type of vintage you want. A recent comeback like Mabel (1,522 girls in 2025) will feel distinctive. A name like Hazel or Theodore will feel current, because thousands of babies get it every year.
- Check the trend line. A name that has climbed for 20 years, like Olive or June, may keep climbing. Our data shows only the past, so treat any forecast with care.
- Say it with your surname and look at the initials. That matters more than any ranking. Our guide to narrowing down a long list walks through it.
- Browse by letter. If you like the sound of Olive and Otto, try our names starting with O. Browse names starting with M for Mabel-style options, or the full name directory for meanings and origins.
If you're working through vintage names with a partner, Namely lets you each swipe privately and shows only the names you both like. Its filters for style, origin and popularity help you focus on old-fashioned names or skip anything too common. Every card shows the meaning and origin. Namely is on iPhone and Android, and Premium ($6.99/week) adds unlimited AI suggestions and real-time partner sync. Get it on the App Store or Google Play.
Quick answers
What are vintage baby names making a comeback? In SSA data, girls' names that peaked before 1940 and climbed furthest from 2005 to 2025 are Olive, Mabel, June, Rosalie and Vera. For boys they are Otto, Harvey, August, Leon and Warren.
Is Theodore a vintage name? It was used in the early 1900s (#30 in 1904), but it's far more popular today. It was #4 in both 2024 and 2025.
Where does this data come from? From the US Social Security Administration's national baby name files, 1880 to 2025. The files list names given to at least five babies in a year.
Sources checked 2026-11-08. Data: US Social Security Administration national baby name files (yob1880.txt to yob2025.txt) and their readme. Ranks and changes calculated by Namely.