20th Century Name Generator

Period-accurate English and American names from 1900 to 1999

Real-World Names & CulturesPart of: real-world name generators500 names

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Generate realistic 20th century names for characters, family-history projects and period fiction: Edwardian Alberts and Ediths, mid-century Garys and Lindas, and 1990s Tylers and Ashleys, paired with surnames from the era's real British and American mix.

About 20th century names

Twentieth century names shifted more in a hundred years than in the three centuries before. In 1900 the English-speaking world was still naming babies Albert, Ernest, Florence and Edith; by the 1940s the registers were full of Gary, Dennis, Carol and Linda; and the century closed with Tyler, Brandon, Jessica and Ashley. Each decade has its own tells, and a reader will place a character in time from the first name alone long before you mention the year.

Surnames moved too, though more slowly. British names stayed anchored in regional stock such as Ashworth, Greenhalgh and Pritchard, while American rolls absorbed Italian, Polish, Jewish, German, Scandinavian and Hispanic families, so a realistic mid-century American cast might hold a Kowalski, a Rosenthal and a Castellano beside a Whitfield. Nicknames also mattered: a man christened William in 1925 was almost certainly Bill or Billy to everyone he knew.

This 20th century name generator pairs first names that genuinely peaked in a given decade with surnames from the matching population. Use the Edwardian and interwar names for historical fiction and genealogy placeholders, the postwar names for parents and grandparents in contemporary stories, and the late-century names for anyone born in the 1980s or 1990s.

How to choose 20th century names

  • Pick the decade of birth, not the decade of the story. A 60-year-old in a 1985 setting was born around 1925, so she should be a Mildred or Dorothy, not a Lisa.
  • Use the full formal name on documents and a period nickname in dialogue: Robert becomes Bob or Bobby, Margaret becomes Peggy or Maggie, Dorothy becomes Dot.
  • For British characters, lean on regional surnames and diminutives such as Reg, Alf, Doreen and Beryl; for Americans, mix in immigrant surnames and double names like Peggy Sue or Jim Bob.
  • Middle-class Edwardian names (Percival, Winifred, Archibald) read very differently from working-class ones (Bert, Ada, Elsie), so match class as well as year.
  • Avoid anachronisms: Jennifer barely existed before 1940, Ashley was a boy's name until the 1970s, and Hayden, Jayden and Madison belong to the 21st century.

Frequently asked questions

What were the most common names across the 20th century?

In both the UK and US, John, William, James, Robert and Michael dominated the male side over the whole century, while Mary, Margaret, Elizabeth, Dorothy and later Jennifer led for women. The decade-specific names such as Clarence, Gladys, Gary and Ashley are what actually signal a period.

Does this generator cover British as well as American names?

Yes. It includes English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish first names and surnames alongside American names, including the immigrant surnames that became common in the United States after 1900.

How do I tell which decade a name belongs to?

As a rough guide, names like Albert, Edith and Ethel are pre-1920; Mildred, Floyd and Thelma are 1920s to 1930s; Gary, Linda, Carol and Dennis are 1940s to 1950s; Lisa, Kevin and Michelle are 1960s to 1970s; and Jessica, Brandon, Tyler and Ashley are 1980s to 1990s.

Can I use these names for genealogy placeholders or published fiction?

Yes. Every name is a combination of common historical given names and surnames rather than a specific real person, so they are free to use in novels, screenplays, games and family-tree mockups.

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All 500 20th century names

This is the complete list the generator above draws its random batches from, sorted A to Z and grouped by first letter.

Plain text, one name per line.

A: 33 names

  • Aaron Stillwater
  • Ada Blythe
  • Adam Wexford
  • Adeline Crowther
  • Agnes Kirkby
  • Al Birnbaum
  • Alan Heseltine
  • Albert Whitmore
  • Alberta Crenshaw
  • Alfred Nightingale
  • Alice Ferncastle
  • Alma Stratton
  • Alvin Dreyfus
  • Amanda Treadwell
  • Amber Ravenscroft
  • Ambrose Tolliver
  • Ambrose Wickersham
  • Amos Kettleby
  • Amy Fairbanks
  • Andrea Kettleworth
  • Angelo Bonavita
  • Anita Rosselli
  • Annette Cavallaro
  • Annette Dubois
  • Antoinette Pellerin
  • Archibald Fenimore
  • Arlene Whitaker
  • Art Mendel
  • Arthur Cresswell
  • Ashley Kerrigan
  • Audrey Penhaligon
  • Augustus Pemberley
  • Austin Merriweather

B: 29 names

  • Barbara Whitcombe
  • Barney Ostrowski
  • Barry Kaufman
  • Beatrice Linwood
  • Becky Thornton
  • Bernice Cavanaugh
  • Bertram Hollis
  • Beryl Ashurst
  • Bessie Halloran
  • Betty Carmichael
  • Bev Turnbull
  • Beverly Ashcroft
  • Bill Stockton
  • Birdie Cavanaugh
  • Blanche Corrigan
  • Bob Kasparek
  • Bobbie Jo Lassiter
  • Bonnie Alderman
  • Boyd Wetherington
  • Bradley Ingleby
  • Brandon Sullivan
  • Brenda Dewhurst
  • Brenda Ostrowski
  • Brian Fenton
  • Brittany Oakes
  • Bruce Hemingway
  • Buddy Kessinger
  • Burt Landry
  • Burton Cromwell

C: 37 names

  • Calvin Rathbone
  • Carl Winslow
  • Carla Bianchi
  • Carol Thibodeaux
  • Carolyn Fitzpatrick
  • Cathy Brandt
  • Cecil Farrington
  • Chad Burlingame
  • Charlotte Winterbottom
  • Cheryl Dunaway
  • Chester Lindqvist
  • Chris Ravenhill
  • Christina Galloway
  • Chuck Dellinger
  • Clara Thistlewood
  • Clarence Osgood
  • Claudette Macready
  • Clem Harbison
  • Cliff Radnor
  • Clifford Rowntree
  • Clive Thurlow
  • Clyde Perkins
  • Cody Brambleton
  • Colin Ashbourne
  • Connie Brannigan
  • Conrad Halpern
  • Constance Ellery
  • Cora Bellingham
  • Corey Dunleavy
  • Cornelia Vance
  • Cornelius Ashby
  • Courtney Ashmore
  • Craig Tolbert
  • Crystal Vickers
  • Curt Haverly
  • Cynthia Greenlaw
  • Cyril Dunwoody

D: 32 names

  • Dale Lindstrom
  • Dan Whitesides
  • Danielle Marchbanks
  • Danny Weatherspoon
  • Darla Swenson
  • Darlene Fosdick
  • Darren Moseley
  • Dave Garrison
  • Dawn Calloway
  • Dean Whitman
  • Deborah Schaeffer
  • Debra Lindqvist
  • Delia Callahan
  • Dennis Oakley
  • Derek Cartwright
  • Derek Winterbourne
  • Dewey Langston
  • Diane Wetherell
  • Dianne Haverstock
  • Dick Thurgood
  • Dinah Chesterfield
  • Dolores Ramirez
  • Don Hastings
  • Donald Fairweather
  • Donna Pickering
  • Doris Lockwood
  • Dorothy Hastings
  • Dottie Ferrante
  • Douglas Whitfield
  • Duane Prescott
  • Dustin Farrier
  • Dwight Pennyworth

E: 30 names

  • Earl Thackeray
  • Earlene Pickford
  • Eddie Mancuso
  • Edith Pemberton
  • Edna Partridge
  • Edwin Clough
  • Edwina Stoneham
  • Effie Doolittle
  • Elaine Broadbent
  • Eleanor Bramwell
  • Ellen Ashcombe
  • Elmer Padgett
  • Eloise Bradbury
  • Elsie Fairbairn
  • Elvin Hargrove
  • Elwood Baskerville
  • Emanuel Rosenberg
  • Emily Tavistock
  • Emmett Stroud
  • Eric Featherstone
  • Erin Macallister
  • Ernest Tolliver
  • Ernestine Pruitt
  • Ernie Sidebottom
  • Estelle Bancroft
  • Ethel Marchbanks
  • Eugene Sandoval
  • Eunice Marlow
  • Evelyn Marchetti
  • Everett Lindqvist

F: 11 names

  • Faye Sinclair
  • Flora Wainwright
  • Florence Hadley
  • Floyd Carraway
  • Frances Delahunt
  • Francine Delucca
  • Frank Lombardi
  • Frankie Moretti
  • Fred Winstead
  • Freda Kessler
  • Frederick Lowry

G: 21 names

  • Gail Ostrander
  • Gary Pomeroy
  • Gene Haskell
  • Geneva Stilwell
  • Gerald Pinkerton
  • Geraldine Hatcher
  • Gertrude Fairley
  • Ginger Ashfield
  • Gladys Weatherby
  • Glen Strickland
  • Glenda Pruett
  • Glenn Mortimer
  • Gloria Pappas
  • Goldie Rasmussen
  • Gordon Marsh
  • Graham Winterton
  • Greg Ferncliffe
  • Grover Pickett
  • Gus Wolinski
  • Guy Ashburton
  • Gwen Harrowby

H: 20 names

  • Hal Lindbergh
  • Hank Wilder
  • Harlan Whitsett
  • Harold Ainsworth
  • Harriet Goodwin
  • Harvey Spillane
  • Hattie Norwood
  • Hazel Bickerstaff
  • Heather Whitmarsh
  • Henrietta Crofton
  • Herb Pennypacker
  • Herbert Quayle
  • Herman Kasprzak
  • Hilary Brookhouse
  • Holly Sandringham
  • Homer Stroud
  • Horace Wimbourne
  • Howard Beckwith
  • Hubert Ashworth
  • Hugh Kincaid

I: 7 names

  • Ian Morpeth
  • Ida Ravenhurst
  • Inez Talbot
  • Ira Fennimore
  • Irene Wakefield
  • Ivan Pellegrino
  • Ivy Blackledge

J: 32 names

  • Jack Tremaine
  • Jacqueline Thursfield
  • James Farrow
  • Janet Rutherford
  • Janice Walpole
  • Jared Ellsworth
  • Jason Albright
  • Jasper Thornhill
  • Jean Ashburn
  • Jeanette Kincaid
  • Jeff Underhill
  • Jennifer Stroud
  • Jeremy Lindahl
  • Jerry Schoenfeld
  • Jessica Fairchild
  • Jim Bob Tuttle
  • Jim Corbett
  • Jimmy Caldwell
  • Joan Cartwright
  • Joanne Kessler
  • Jolene Brannock
  • Jordan Halstead
  • Josephine Whitlock
  • Joshua Hartigan
  • Joyce Edgecombe
  • Joyce Stavros
  • Juanita Oberlin
  • Judith Tennant
  • Julie Kershaw
  • Julius Abramowitz
  • June Ollerenshaw
  • Justin Kavanagh

K: 14 names

  • Karen Montague
  • Kathleen Muldoon
  • Kathy Mercer
  • Katie Brannock
  • Kay Brewster
  • Keith Bradshaw
  • Kelly Farnsworth
  • Ken Tewksbury
  • Kenneth Blackwood
  • Kenneth Haworth
  • Kevin Thackery
  • Kimberly Radcliffe
  • Kristen Lockhart
  • Kyle Bradford

L: 38 names

  • Lance Shipley
  • Larry Mendenhall
  • Laura Cavendish
  • Lauren Pendergast
  • Lavinia Hartwell
  • Leland Underwood
  • Lenny Schwartzman
  • Leon Halloway
  • Leona Dillard
  • Leonard Ashdown
  • Leroy Sutherland
  • Les Gillingham
  • Leslie Haythornthwaite
  • Leslie Pickersgill
  • Lester Vanderbilt
  • Lettie Brookfield
  • Lillian Gaskell
  • Linda Garrity
  • Linda Sue Harmon
  • Lionel Harcastle
  • Lisa Marchand
  • Lloyd Abernathy
  • Lois Fitzgerald
  • Loreen Woodbury
  • Loretta Fontaine
  • Loretta Kowalsky
  • Lorraine Tedesco
  • Lottie Greenhalgh
  • Lou Abernathy
  • Louisa Bramford
  • Lowell Breckenridge
  • Lucille Darrow
  • Lucinda Yarborough
  • Lucius Fairhurst
  • Lula Mae Vinson
  • Luther Hawkins
  • Lyle Brunner
  • Lynda Pettibone

M: 41 names

  • Mabel Stanhope
  • Malcolm Threlkeld
  • Mamie Eldridge
  • Marcella Wyndham
  • Marcia Fleming
  • Marcus Threadgold
  • Marcy Lindgren
  • Margaret Oyelaran
  • Margo Stillwell
  • Marguerite Delaney
  • Marian Holloway
  • Marilyn Pruitt
  • Marjorie Elkins
  • Mark Lassiter
  • Marlene Ashby
  • Martha Kendrick
  • Marty Fishman
  • Marvin Rosenthal
  • Matthew Cresswell
  • Maude Lancaster
  • Maureen Caddick
  • Maureen Fogarty
  • Mavis Tanner
  • Maxine Ferraro
  • Megan Carraway
  • Mel Kaminsky
  • Melissa Rourke
  • Merle Haggerty
  • Merv Hollins
  • Michelle Harrowgate
  • Mickey Dolan
  • Mike Bellweather
  • Mildred Fenwick
  • Milton Rosenbaum
  • Minnie Holbrook
  • Mona Delgado
  • Montague Pryce
  • Monty Pellingham
  • Morris Fishbein
  • Muriel Sayers
  • Myrtle Beasley

N: 16 names

  • Nadia Petrova
  • Nadine Rosselli
  • Nan Wetherell
  • Nancy Sheridan
  • Nathan Cobbledick
  • Nathaniel Gosling
  • Ned Tillingham
  • Neil Ashford
  • Nellie Sanderson
  • Nicholas Papadakis
  • Nicole Beaumont
  • Nigel Fairweather
  • Noel Galbraith
  • Norm Sheffield
  • Norma Jean Cutler
  • Norman Tillery

O: 7 names

  • Olive Chandler
  • Opal Nettleton
  • Orville Stubblefield
  • Oscar Brandenburg
  • Oswald Kinsley
  • Otis Brackenridge
  • Ozzie Brannigan

P: 18 names

  • Pam Longbottom
  • Pamela Strachan
  • Patricia Danvers
  • Patsy Kovacs
  • Patti Greenspan
  • Paula Ferrigno
  • Pauline Ostrander
  • Pearl Whittaker
  • Peggy Sturgis
  • Peggy Sue Caldwell
  • Penny Truscott
  • Percy Holloway
  • Perry Lindsey
  • Pete Garibaldi
  • Phil Ostrowski
  • Phillip Dorsey
  • Phyllis Meriwether
  • Priscilla Weatherford

R: 36 names

  • Rachel Whitby
  • Ralph Easterbrook
  • Ramona Esposito
  • Randy Stapleton
  • Ray Bellamy
  • Raymond Kowalczyk
  • Reginald Thorne
  • Rex Carmody
  • Rhonda Kilpatrick
  • Richard Appleby
  • Rick Haverford
  • Ricky Santangelo
  • Rita Halvorson
  • Robert Kellerman
  • Roberta Keegan
  • Rod Cartmell
  • Roger Stallworth
  • Ron Whitehouse
  • Ronald Halvorsen
  • Rosa Beckett
  • Rosalie Marchetti
  • Rosalind Ferris
  • Roscoe Templeton
  • Rosemary Lindgren
  • Roxanne Holmquist
  • Roy Fairclough
  • Roy Kettering
  • Ruby Thorogood
  • Rudolph Giordano
  • Rufus Crandall
  • Rupert Marchmont
  • Russ Wetherby
  • Russell Ingram
  • Ruth Shackleton
  • Ruthie Gold
  • Ryan Ackerley

S: 26 names

  • Sadie Gottlieb
  • Sal Martorano
  • Samantha Bellingham
  • Sandra Kowalski
  • Sarah Lindqvist
  • Scott Hallingsworth
  • Sean Glendenning
  • Selma Jurgensen
  • Sharon Delacroix
  • Shawn Delaney
  • Sheila Brannigan
  • Shelley Boardman
  • Sherman Teague
  • Shirley Lindgren
  • Sidney Marlowe
  • Silas Amberley
  • Sonny Castellano
  • Stacy Greenwood
  • Stanford Whitlock
  • Stanley Brockhurst
  • Stephanie Ingersoll
  • Steve Pallister
  • Stuart Wentworth
  • Sue Ellen Pritchard
  • Susan Thorneycroft
  • Sylvia Harcourt

T: 23 names

  • Tammy Brightwater
  • Ted Crowninshield
  • Teresa Ballantyne
  • Terry Kincannon
  • Thaddeus Pike
  • Thelma Radford
  • Theodora Nash
  • Theodore Rivington
  • Theresa Blankenship
  • Tiffany Rollins
  • Timothy Dunstan
  • Todd Pennington
  • Tom Wexler
  • Tommy Delgado
  • Toni Rinaldi
  • Tony Castellanos
  • Tonya Westbrook
  • Tracy Hollister
  • Travis Hornsby
  • Trevor Lindfield
  • Trevor Pruett
  • Trudy Lindenmeyer
  • Tyler Whitlow

V: 12 names

  • Valerie Rushworth
  • Velma Ridgeway
  • Vera Castellano
  • Vern Stuckey
  • Vernon Pettigrew
  • Vicki Sorensen
  • Victor Ashgrove
  • Vince Tedeschi
  • Vincent Tagliaferro
  • Viola Hargreaves
  • Violet Ashcombe
  • Virgil Hammond

W: 15 names

  • Waldo Pettibone
  • Wallace Greaves
  • Walt Granger
  • Walter Dunmore
  • Wanda Birkenshaw
  • Warren Higginbotham
  • Wayne Gallagher
  • Wendell Carstairs
  • Wesley Eastwood
  • Wilbur Haskins
  • Wilfred Tapscott
  • Wilhelmina Duckworth
  • Wilma Pritchard
  • Winifred Calloway
  • Woodrow Ellison

Y: 1 name

  • Yvonne Pelletier

Z: 1 name

  • Zachary Holloway