Birth year

Born in 1926? Here's your year in charts

In 1926, the top baby names were Mary and Robert and a newborn could expect to live 56.7 years.

Top baby names of 1926

Girls

  1. 1. Mary 67,832 babies, 5.7% of girls
  2. 2. Dorothy 36,618 babies, 3.1% of girls
  3. 3. Betty 32,964 babies, 2.8% of girls
  4. 4. Helen 26,886 babies, 2.3% of girls
  5. 5. Margaret 23,072 babies, 1.9% of girls

Boys

  1. 1. Robert 61,130 babies, 5.5% of boys
  2. 2. John 56,108 babies, 5.1% of boys
  3. 3. James 53,196 babies, 4.8% of boys
  4. 4. William 51,922 babies, 4.7% of boys
  5. 5. Charles 29,521 babies, 2.7% of boys

From Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S.; names given to fewer than 5 babies are left out. Pick a name to see how many babies got it every year since 1880.

1926 then vs. now

  • Life expectancy at birth

    See the chart

    56.7 years in 1926, compared with 78.7 years in 2018

    How long a baby born that year could expect to live, at that year's death rates.

Prices are in dollars of the day, not adjusted for inflation. A figure is left out when its chart doesn't cover 1926.

$100 in 1926 buys about as much as $1,903.62 in September 2026. Try the inflation calculator

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