In the name game, what was popular a century ago isn't necessarily popular today. Or is it? Nowadays, more traditional names are making a comeback. Celebrities aside (including Gwyneth Paltrow's non-traditional Apple), the popular names today are positively old-fashioned: Jacob, Michael, Matthew, and Andrew for boys; Emily, Emma, Hannah, and Olivia for girls. How retro are they? Let's take a look at the century in names, based on the top one thousand names per decade as ranked by the Social Security Administration.

1900-1925

In the first quarter of the century, the most popular names for boys included John, William, James, George, Robert, Charles, and Joseph. More unusual names of the day were Alton, Hyman, Julius, Alva, Forest, Pasquale, Llewellyn, and Celestino. Names that owed a debt to famous people or characters included Homer, Mose, Napoleon, Romeo, Merlin, Melville, Lafayette, Pershing, and Prince. Jewell, Pearl, Dolores, Lorin, Marie, Margaret, and Marion sound exclusively like girls' names today, but they were common for boys. In fact, John Wayne's birth name was Marion Morrison.

Popular girls' names were Mary, Helen, Margaret, Anna, Ruth, Dorothy, Elizabeth, and Betty. Less common were Lula, Zelma, Concetta, Petra, Birdie, Mozelle, Yetta, Roxie, Queen or Queenie, Marvel, Novella, Pinkie, and Candida. Famous people and places were remembered with Salome, Delilah, Lenore, Minerva, Guadalupe, Dixie, Missouri, and Georgia. Prudence and Charity represented the virtues. As for boys, it was common to give girls what we think of as masculine names, such as Charles, Joseph, Sidney, Ray, Walter, Cecil, Virgil, or Frank. But sometimes they were slightly feminized, as with Jimmie, Johnnie, Billie, Ollie, Virgie, Georgie, Artie, and Frankie.

1926-1950

During the years that saw the rise of Fascism and World War II, the old names were still the favorites. For boys, the new additions to the list of most popular names were Richard, Donald, David, Thomas, and Ronald. Interestingly, in both the 30s and the 40s, names like Hans, German, and Adolf (though primarily spelled Adolph in the 40s) remained in circulation. But during the war, patriotic names were in vogue: Roosevelt and both Douglass and Mcarthur.

Famous people again lent their monikers with Darwin, Dempsey, and Radames, the captain of the Egyptian guard in Verdi's Aïda. Names we consider to be more feminine today include Fay, Mary, Shirley, Carmen, Betty, Joan, Patricia, Isabel, June, Ruth, Angel, Linda, Carolyn, and Courtney. For an aristocratic touch, Royal and Noble made the list. Other unusual names that highlight the period are Zane, Ivory, Valentine, Sylvan, Sterling, Cesar, Butch, and Elvis.

Girls' names also remained conservative, but Barbara, Shirley, Patricia, Nancy, Doris, and Carol became top favorites as well. A few more modern names made it to the top 1000, including Holly, April, Cherry, Roxanne, Vicki, Penny, Wendy, and Marsha. Unusual names included Kitty, Easter, Blossom, Dimple, Lovie, Dovie, Socorro, and Savannah. For the patriotic, America made a brief appearance. The virtuous may have preferred Hope, Faith, Joy, or Merry for their label. Tomboys could enjoy names like Charlie, Sammie, Mickey, Ronnie, Tommie, Eddie, Bennie, Joe, Jerry, Lou or Louis, Noel, and the long-popular Pat. To top it off, Gay moved up the charts in popularity.

1951-1975

During this period, the top boys' names didn't change a lot, but for the first time, Michael headed the list, where it still remains. Mark, Steven, Jeffrey, Christopher, Scott, Timothy, and Jason were also big movers in the top 20. Thanks to the post-war prosperity, names became a bit more adventurous and reflected the dawning of the media era. Dirk, Zachary, Darren, Ryan, Cory, Jonathon, Stacy, Trent, Mitch, Layne, Damian, Trevor, and Gavin made their debut on the list. A penchant for diminutives and less formal names appeared with Kip, Rand, Dino, Chip, Ty, Davey, and Scottie. The wester craze gave us Dusty, Shane, Chet, Hank, Blane, and Cody. Other media influences included Rhett, Dion, and Fabian. The brief days of Camelot inspired Kennedy, and perhaps the beginning of the love affair with Celtic names, notably Cameron, Erin, Keenan, and Rory. Other ethnic names put in an appearance, including Leif, Boris, and Dante.

Linda, Susan, Deborah or Debra, Karen, Donna, Michelle, Cynthia, Amy, and Kimberly rose to the top of the girls' list. Exotic names became popular, with Monique, Athena, Lorelei, Tiffany, Bambi, Angelique, Erica, Simone, Selina, Starla, and Francesca, but short and sweet had its place with Mitzi, Ginny, Abby, Paige, Missy, and Mandy. The media again had its effect with Gigi, Sabrina, Venus, and Anastasia, but "Bewitched" single-handedly contributed four new names to the list: Samantha, Serena, Tabitha, and Esmeralda. Other notable names were Tonya, Darcy, Kendra, Amber, Bethany, Chandra, Marisa, Megan, and Tara.

1976-2000

For most of the century, the top names for boys were pretty conservative, but in the last 25 years, boredom set in, and new names appeared at the top, including Daniel, Andrew, Nicholas, Brandon, Brian, and Kevin. Parents got more creative with our young men, giving them names like Tremayne, Tyron, Axel, Nigel, Telly, Tanner, Shea, Braden, Brandy, Simeon, Whitney, Colby, Skyler, Bryson, Chandler, and Grayson. Perhaps reflecting post-modern advertising and product naming, we got Colt, Sage, Dakota, Talon, Adonis, Orion, Diamond, Storm, Montana, and Stetson. For the value-minded, there was Justice, or Chance if you like to gamble.

The biggest movers on the list, however, were names that reflect the growing diversity of our culture. Hispanic names were always present, but Juan, Carlos, Jorge, and Miguel moved into or near the top 100. Black pride was evident with names like Kenya and Kenyatta, which is used for both boys and girls. The influence of Islam and Middle Eastern immigrants gave us Jamaal, Malik, Ahmed, Hassan, Rashad, and Kareem. Celtic names were still popular with Tristan, Dylan, Kane, Aidan, Kai, Liam, Mackenzie, Kieran, and Cassidy. Italy and Russia contributed Giovanni, Giancarlo, and Dimitri.

Religious names have always been popular, but they became even more so. Traditional Jewish names like Israel, Levi, and Abram had a higher ranking. Mohammed represented Islam. Jesus, Joseph, and the names of the apostles were still popular, but Christians dug deeper into the Bible and pulled out Ezekiel, Ezra, Noah, Micah, Jedidiah, and Trinity. Johnpaul gave a nod to the Pope.

For girls, Jennifer, Ashley, Jessica, Emily, Sarah, Amanda, Melissa, Nicole, Heather, and Stephanie became top performers. But creativity flourished in feminine names, too, running the gamut with Buffy, Dominique, Jasmin, Kizzy, Waleska, Keisha, Tiara, Cheyenne, Fabiola, Aspen, Cierra, Allie, Mariah, and Lexus. For the geographically minded, there was Brittany, Chelsea, India, Asia, Tierra, Shasta, China, and Dallas. A number of folks applied the ethereal to their baby girl, with Destiny, Heaven, Harmony, Precious, Dulce, and Essence, while others preferred the more direct Princess. The weather and seasons contributed Spring, Summer, Autumn, Sunny, Sunshine, Stormy, Skye, and Raina (or Reyna, if you prefer queen to princess). Precious stones and colors provided Ebony, Jade, Emerald, Raven, Scarlett, and Tawny. Thanks to celebrity influence, Chanel, Farrah, Chastity, and Tennille made a showing as well.

Cultural diversity and the desire for more unusual names gave us Nikita, Tatiana, Leilani, Anya, Annika, Sade, Aaliyah, Imani, Xiomara, and Tatum. We couldn't get enough of Celtic names like Brianna, Caitlin, Rhiannon, Brenna, Fallon, Siobhan, and Fiona.

Feminine religious names were present as well, with the traditional Mary, Maria, Magdalene, Lourdes, and Fatima. Traditional names like Rachael, Rebecca, Hannah, and Deborah were still prominent, but overall, the emphasis appeared to be on names that are pretty, not names that are sacred.

2000 and beyond

What trends in names will we see during this decade? It's hard to say since we're only halfway there, but traditional names are making a big comeback. Even so, our cultural mix guarantees that "traditional" will include more than the standard Caucasian names. We'll continue to see names that are representative of various cultures and religions, as well as innovative new names that reflect the melding of our many traditions.

So, what should you name your baby? There's practically no limit to your choices.