SOURCE: TMW via Graphiq
At MooseRoots, we’ve delved into the data for thousands of first names. From autumn-inspired names to presidential influence on name trends, we’ve shared the ins and outs of moniker popularity. We even have our own baby names app! What we’ve yet to divulge, however, is middle name popularity.
The team at MooseRoots wanted to identify the most common middle names for males and females born in the United States since 1900. By reviewing 57.5 million middle names from the Social Security Death Index, we were able to rank the top 10 middle names of the last 12 decades. Starting with 1900-1909, we’ll showcase the middle names that experienced major fads and those that stood the test of time, like William and Elizabeth. Each name is paired with its number of occurrences in the Social Security Death Index.
Note: The Social Security Death Index offers the largest national dataset that MooseRoots possesses, however, the sample size understandably decreases for more recent decades.
1900-1909: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Mae (14,927)
2. Marie (14,893)
3. Elizabeth (14,780)
4. May (8,513)
5. Louise (7,838)
6. Mary (7,243)
7. Margaret (5,314)
8. Irene (5,237)
9. Ann (5,138)
10. Lee (4,496)
1900-1909: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. William (10,100)
2. Joseph (9,262)
3. Edward (8,145)
4. John (6,942)
5. Henry (6,562)
6. James (5,345)
7. Francis (4,063)
8. Charles (4,060)
9. Lee (3,998)
10. George (3,922)
1910-1919: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Mae (18,997)
2. Marie (17,887)
3. Elizabeth (16,750)
4. Louise (12,218)
5. Mary (7,769)
6. Ann (6,827)
7. May (6,785)
8. Lee (5,942)
9. Jane (5,898)
10. Irene (5,868)
1910-1919: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Joseph (12,917)
2. William (12,779)
3. Edward (11,934)
4. John (9,036)
5. Henry (7,526)
6. James (7,277)
7. Lee (6,265)
8. Charles (5,570)
9. Francis (5,098)
10. George (5,010)
1920-1929: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Mae (17,970)
2. Marie (15,290)
3. Louise (11,593)
4. Jean (10,554)
5. Ann (10,086)
6. Elizabeth (9,398)
7. Jane (8,372)
8. Lee (7,266)
9. Ruth (5,337)
10. Mary (4,779)
1920-1929: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Edward (12,063)
2. Joseph (10,386)
3. William (10,198)
4. Lee (9,457)
5. Eugene (8,221)
6. John (6,819)
7. James (6,697)
8. Robert (5,422)
9. Henry (5,264)
10. Charles (4,614)
1930-1939: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Ann (15,095)
2. Jean (10,168)
3. Mae (8,189)
4. Marie (7,480)
5. Lee (5,682)
6. Louise (5,476)
7. Jane (3,397)
8. Lou (2,926)
9. Elizabeth (2,832)
10. Ruth (2,722)
1930-1939: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Lee (10,534)
2. Edward (7,205)
3. Eugene (6,083)
4. Joseph (4,976)
5. William (4,922)
6. James (3,741)
7. Ray (3,426)
8. John (3,329)
9. Robert (2,862)
10. Richard (2,835)
1940-1949: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Ann (14,817)
2. Jean (6,764)
3. Marie (5,747)
4. Lee (5,279)
5. Louise (3,984)
6. Sue (3,254)
7. Mae (3,010)
8. Kay (2,620)
9. Elizabeth (1,896)
10. Jane (1,894)
1940-1949: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Lee (10,207)
2. Edward (5,744)
3. James (3,790)
4. Eugene (3,758)
5. William (3,723)
6. Joseph (3,564)
7. Ray (3,346)
8. Wayne (3,253)
9. Allen (3,103)
10. Michael (3,004)
1950-1959: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Ann (11,111)
2. Marie (5,911)
3. Lynn (4,501)
4. Jean (3,821)
5. Lee (3,246)
6. Sue (2,639)
7. Louise (2,295)
8. Kay (2,127)
9. Elizabeth (1,369)
10. Anne (1,260)
1950-1959: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Lee (8,463)
2. Edward (4,543)
3. Allen (3,907)
4. Michael (3,770)
5. Wayne (3,678)
6. James (3,408)
7. Joseph (3,385)
8. Ray (3,281)
9. William (3,009)
10. Eugene (2,966)
1960-1969: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Ann (3,718)
2. Marie (2,895)
3. Lynn (2,485)
4. Lee (1,025)
5. Jean (993)
6. Sue (846)
7. Kay (741)
8. Louise (644)
9. Renee (566)
10. Elizabeth (544)
1960-1969: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Lee (3,149)
2. Allen (1,990)
3. Edward (1,882)
4. Anthony (1,726)
5. Michael (1,711)
6. James (1,705)
7. Wayne (1,558)
8. Joseph (1,394)
9. Alan (1,335)
10. Scott (1,286)
1970-1979: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Marie (1,703)
2. Ann (1,280)
3. Lynn (1,236)
4. Lee (435)
5. Michelle (435)
6. Renee (420)
7. Elizabeth (334)
8. Dawn (326)
9. Jean (274)
10. Anne (272)
1970-1979: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Lee (1,527)
2. Michael (1,246)
3. James (862)
4. Allen (766)
5. Edward (715)
6. Anthony (703)
7. David (696)
8. Joseph (643)
9. William (550)
10. Wayne (528)
1980-1989: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Marie (2,544)
2. Ann (1,194)
3. Lynn (1,029)
4. Nicole (764)
5. Elizabeth (650)
6. Renee (517)
7. Michelle (443)
8. Lee (426)
9. Anne (357)
10. Rose (312)
1980-1989: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Michael (1,409)
2. Lee (1,212)
3. James (1,047)
4. Anthony (848)
5. Joseph (746)
6. David (716)
7. Allen (652)
8. Robert (545)
9. William (537)
10. Edward (522)
1990-1999: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Marie (1,393)
2. Nicole (684)
3. Ann (548)
4. Lynn (509)
5. Elizabeth (490)
6. Renee (278)
7. Michelle (251)
8. Rose (242)
9. Lee (188)
10. Anne (151)
1990-1999: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Michael (1,006)
2. James (689)
3. Lee (657)
4. Anthony (531)
5. Allen (412)
6. Joseph (397)
7. David (352)
8. Thomas (281)
9. Robert (280)
10. William (267)
2000-2009: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Marie (301)
2. Nicole (157)
3. Elizabeth (123)
4. Ann (120)
5. Lynn (114)
6. Rose (98)
7. Grace (72)
8. Renee (56)
9. Mae (39)
10. Faith (38)
2000-2009: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Michael (238)
2. James (170)
3. Lee (138)
5. Allen (97)
6. Joseph (89)
7. David (73)
8. William (71)
9. Thomas (68)
10. Anthony (61)
10. Robert (59)
2010-2015: Female Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. Marie (82)
2. Grace (71)
3. Rose (53)
4. Ann (51)
5. Elizabeth (36)
6. Faith (32)
7. Mae (32)
8. Lynn (27)
9. Renee (19)
10. Jane (16)
2010-2015: Male Names
Top 10 Middle Names of the Decade and Occurrences:
1. James (95)
2. Lee (53)
3. Michael (52)
4. Joseph (36)
5. Alexander (27)
6. David (27)
7. William (26)
8. Andrew (24)
9. Matthew (22)
10. Robert (22)
