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Most popular baby names of the 1890s

In the 1890s, the most popular name for girls born in the U.S. was Mary, given to 131,138 girls, about 1 in 17 girls born that decade. For boys it was John, given to 80,664, about 1 in 14 boys.

Together, the top 20 girls’ names went to 31% of girls born in the 1890s, and the top 20 boys’ names to 49% of boys.

Top girls’ names

Top girls’ names of the 1890s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1Mary131,1381 in 17
#2Anna55,2611 in 40
#3Margaret37,9371 in 59
#4Helen37,8021 in 59
#5Elizabeth33,8791 in 66
#6Ruth32,8671 in 68
#7Florence32,3451 in 69
#8Ethel31,4531 in 71
#9Emma28,6521 in 78
#10Marie25,8531 in 86
#11Clara25,4731 in 87
#12Bertha25,1251 in 88
#13Minnie24,6151 in 90
#14Bessie24,4171 in 91
#15Alice24,4151 in 91
#16Lillian24,1061 in 92
#17Edna24,0681 in 92
#18Grace23,8041 in 93
#19Annie23,1221 in 96
#20Mabel21,9911 in 100

Top boys’ names

Top boys’ names of the 1890s
RankNameBabiesShare
#1John80,6641 in 14
#2William72,2441 in 16
#3James50,7231 in 22
#4George43,3581 in 26
#5Charles36,8481 in 31
#6Joseph29,0001 in 39
#7Frank28,7181 in 40
#8Robert26,1471 in 44
#9Edward22,0331 in 52
#10Henry21,6641 in 53
#11Harry21,3301 in 53
#12Thomas21,1151 in 54
#13Walter19,4951 in 59
#14Arthur16,3491 in 70
#15Fred14,2701 in 80
#16Albert13,7531 in 83
#17Clarence11,9011 in 96
#18Willie9,8491 in 120
#19Roy9,7791 in 120
#20Louis8,4421 in 140

What changed

5 of the decade’s top 20 girls’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1880s: Helen, Ruth, Marie, Lillian and Edna. 2 of the decade’s top 20 boys’ names were not in the top 20 of the 1880s: Willie and Roy.

Each table ranks names by how many babies of that sex got the name across the decade’s years in Social Security’s data, with the share of all babies of that sex it went to. A name links to its own page when it has one, with its births and rank in every year since 1880.

Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.