Yesterday I examined Top 100 Drop Outs, the names that were once the stars of the name charts but now, for various reasons, have become decidedly unpopular and are out of the top 1000. Today I'm going to turn the spot light the other way to the names that have had persistent appeal for British parents, and have managed to retain their Top 100 status throughout the 20th century.
If you read the names Gladys, Brenda, Tracey and Dawn from a list, you most likely have picture in your mind about how old each of these women would be. Then you see the name Elizabeth and the picture becomes more blurry. Elizabeth could be your great aunt Betty; she could be your good friend Liz in her thirties; or she could be the sweet little girl next door.
These are the endurable favourites: solid staples of British names. Yes, they feel a bit commonplace -- they're always there, even if just in the background — but their great advantage is that they are timeless and ageless.
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Below are all the names that stayed in the Top 100 in England and Wales every decade from 1904 to 1994. Unsurprisingly, there are more longstanding boys names than there are for girls. Those names that were still in the Top 100 in 2004, have been highlighted in red.
| 1904 | 1914 | 1924 | 1934 | 1944 | 1954 | 1964 | 1974 | 1984 | 1994 | 2004 | |
| Alexander | 42 | 53 | 54 | 66 | 66 | 71 | 77 | 43 | 25 | 18 | 20 |
| Andrew | 71 | 67 | 73 | 79 | 45 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 79 |
| Anthony | 91 | 76 | 49 | 16 | 6 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 24 | 58 | 117 |
| Charles | 7 | 9 | 14 | 29 | 38 | 38 | 56 | 70 | 69 | 44 | 49 |
| Christopher | 61 | 66 | 69 | 57 | 16 | 9 | 11 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 65 |
| Daniel | 57 | 59 | 72 | 71 | 82 | 73 | 53 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| David | 30 | 32 | 21 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 24 | 55 |
| Edward | 12 | 11 | 12 | 20 | 29 | 45 | 49 | 52 | 51 | 47 | 43 |
| George | 3 | 3 | 3 | 10 | 21 | 35 | 54 | 83 | 71 | 21 | 17 |
| James | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 19 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| John | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 39 | 64 |
| Joseph | 13 | 12 | 16 | 23 | 36 | 47 | 48 | 59 | 40 | 16 | 10 |
| Michael | 46 | 39 | 40 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 39 |
| Patrick | 44 | 38 | 44 | 32 | 31 | 39 | 35 | 67 | 65 | 71 | 89 |
| Peter | 59 | 42 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 23 | 51 | 109 |
| Philip | 48 | 52 | 53 | 56 | 32 | 16 | 20 | 29 | 32 | 79 | 259 |
| Richard | 25 | 26 | 32 | 28 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 49 | 167 |
| Robert | 15 | 10 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 14 | 13 | 25 | 60 |
| Stephen | 67 | 68 | 76 | 84 | 40 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 20 | 48 | 139 |
| Thomas | 4 | 4 | 5 | 12 | 19 | 24 | 34 | 40 | 11 | 1 | 3 |
| William | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 15 | 29 | 41 | 34 | 19 | 8 |
| Catherine | 34 | 36 | 37 | 36 | 42 | 26 | 19 | 22 | 37 | 56 | 166 |
| Elizabeth | 9 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 8 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 26 | 35 |
| Helen | 57 | 60 | 62 | 63 | 45 | 22 | 8 | 8 | 21 | 80 | 313 |
| Maria | 80 | 90 | 66 | 59 | 57 | 42 | 30 | 44 | 78 | 92 | 113 |
| Sarah | 21 | 31 | 53 | 76 | 86 | 68 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 56 |
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Interestingly, James is the only name to have consistently stayed within the Top 20 over the hundred year period, though John was by far and away more dominant up until 1994.
David, James, John, Michael, Richard, Robert, Thomas, William and Elizabeth all stayed within the Top 50 in the ten decades from 1904 to 1994.
Alan, Jane, Mary, Marie and Paul just missed a full sweep, but still all managed to cling on to their Top 100 status across nine consecutive decades.
Statistics have been compiled based on Top 100 lists provided by the Office for National Statistics.
