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.
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:
- Hubert
- Clayton
- Wilson
- Harley
- Curtis
- Cleveland
- Cecil
- Eli
- Wiley
- Nicholas
- Reuben
- Owen
- Max
- Silas
- Fredrick
- Sylvester
- Marshall
- Emmett
- Ross
- Levi
- Otis
- Wallace
- Russell
- Gus
- 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:
- Mary
- Elizabeth
- Margaret
- Ida
- Clara
- Alicia
- Florence
- Ethel
- Nellie
- Mabel
- Cora
- Helen
- Lilian
- Gertrude
- Rose
- Pearl
- Edith
- Hattie
- Mattie
- Julia
- Maggie
- Rosa
- Daisy
- Nettie
- 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.
More baby name ideas
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Soap opera-inspired baby names
British-inspired baby names
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