Retro baby names

In today’s fast-paced world, giving your girl or boy a retro baby name is a great way to reconnect to a more innocent time. These classic baby names will stand the test of time. Check out our picks for the best retro baby names for girls and boys.

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Retro names for boys

Biblical baby names have dominated the charts from the 1800s to modern times but these other names for boys used to be really popular.

Here’s our list of the top retro boys’ names:

1. Hubert
2. Clayton
3. Wilson
4. Harley
5. Curtis
6. Cleveland
7. Cecil
8. Eli
9. Wiley
10. Nicholas
11. Reuben
12. Owen
13. Max
14. Silas
15. Fredrick
16. Sylvester
17. Marshall
18. Emmett
19. Ross
20. Levi
21. Otis
22. Wallace
23. Russell
24. Gus
25. Everett

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Retro names for girls

These retro girls’ names, straight from the list of top baby girl names from the 1800s, are full of classic yet surprisingly modern-sounding baby names.

Here’s our list of the top retro girls’ names:

1. Mary
2. Elizabeth
3. Margaret
4. Ida
5. Clara
6. Alicia
7. Florence
8. Ethel
9. Nellie
10. Mabel
11. Cora
12. Helen
13. Lilian
14. Gertrude
15. Rose
16. Pearl
17. Edith
18. Hattie
19. Mattie
20. Julia
21. Maggie
22. Rosa
23. Daisy
24. Nettie
25. Lizzie

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Old Hollywood baby names

We can also find great retro baby names by looking at the popular celebrities in the 1930s. Here are some standouts:

Boy names:

• Fred (Astaire)
• Charlie (Chaplin)
• Errol (Flynn)
• Clark (Gable)
• William (Powell)
• Charles (Laughton)
• Thomas (Mitchell)

Girl names:

• Greta (Garbo)
• Myrna (Loy)
• Ginger (Rogers)
• Shirley (Temple)
• Mae (West)
• Hattie (McDaniel)
• Claudette (Colbert)

Baby names from literature

Take a look at classic books and their characters for some wonderful names with a retro feel. Names such as Atticus (To Kill a Mockingbird), Gatsby (The Great Gatsby), Holden (The Catcher in the Rye) and Phineas (A Separate Peace) for boys. For girls, consider Jane (Jane Austen), Ophelia (Shakespeare), Portia (Shakespeare), Lily (The House of Mirth) or Hester (The Scarlet Letter).

You can also take a look back at your own family tree. Not only might these names have a wonderful retro sound to them, but passing on a family name is a wonderful way to stay connected to the past while moving toward the future.

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