Whether a child is named in honor of a grandparent, a fictional character, or just because a chosen moniker sounds pretty, that choice remains with that person for the rest of their life, short of an official name change. All names are from Social Security card applications for births within the U.S., and the top 50 for each gender are ranked according to their popularity within the total births over the past 100 years. Stacker combed through Social Security Administration data, examining births from 1920 to 2019 (most recent data), and the corresponding names given to newborns.
Numerous studies have shown that names can impact a person's level of career success along with their likelihood of getting a job. There have also been cases where judges have had to legally intervene and prevent attempted name changes on the grounds of abuse, confusion, or simply being too bizarre.
