What Comes Around .....
Goes Around
There is nothing contemporary about using male names for daughters. In fact, our great-grandmothers easily beat us to it.
In the year 1925, the names Willie, Billie, Ollie, Bobbie, Jimmie, and Frankie were more popular for girls than the names Judith or Elinor. That same year, there were 364 baby girls named John, 363 girls named James, and 351 girls named Robert. (The corresponding popularity ranks for those names were #357, #358, and #364, respectively.)
The year 1925 also saw 289 girls named William, but only 288 girls named Sophia. Continuing the trend, there were 216 girls named Charles, 207 girls named George, 181 girls named Charlie, 159 girls named Joe, 110 girls named Henry, 108 girls named Richard, 105 girls named Donald, 99 girls named Frank, 98 girls named Walter, 94 girls named Jack, 88 girls named Clyde, 85 girls named Harold, 81 girls named Paul, 78 girls named Arthur, 78 girls named Thomas, 68 girls named Louis, 66 girls named Albert, and 64 girls named Earl. And that’s just one year.
In comparison, there were only 62 girls named Chloe in 1925.
The names Robert and John were listed among America’s most popular girl names every single year from 1910 until 1988. (Robert ranked #314 for girls in 1929; John ranked #318 for girls in 1927.) William was a popular name for girls every year from 1910 until 1987, and spent ten years in the 1920’s and 1930’s within the 300 and 400 ranks. James, perhaps the most consistently popular male name for girls, enjoyed continuous usage from 1910 until 1989...and rated among the 300, 400, and 500 ranks during most of those decades.
Source: The Social Security Administration