US baby names · the 1890s

Most popular baby names of the 1890s

These are the most given US names of the 1890s, adding up Social Security counts for each year from 1890 to 1899. Across those years SSA recorded 2,221,561 girls and 1,140,947 boys under names given to five or more babies.

Mary led the girls with 131,138 babies, followed by Anna, Margaret and Helen. For boys, John came first with 80,664, ahead of William, James and George.

Against the top 100 of the 1880s, 14 girls’ names and 11 boys’ names in the 1890s are newcomers (girls: Mildred, Gladys, Dorothy; boys: Russell, Lester, Lloyd). Of these names, 20 of the 100 girls’ names and 23 of the 100 boys’ names are still in the top 100 in 2025.

A decade total favours names that were steady for ten years over a single-year spike, so a list here can differ from any one year’s top 100. The sparklines show each name before and after the 1890s.

SSA names.zip · Social Security card applications · retrieved 2026-10-05

← 1880s 1900s →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1890s

Rank	Name	Girls in decade
#1	Mary	131,138
#2	Anna	55,261
#3	Margaret	37,937
#4	Helen	37,802
#5	Elizabeth	33,879
#6	Ruth	32,867
#7	Florence	32,345
#8	Ethel	31,453
#9	Emma	28,652
#10	Marie	25,853
#11	Clara	25,473
#12	Bertha	25,125
#13	Minnie	24,615
#14	Bessie	24,417
#15	Alice	24,415
#16	Lillian	24,106
#17	Edna	24,068
#18	Grace	23,804
#19	Annie	23,122
#20	Mabel	21,991
#21	Ida	21,212
#22	Rose	21,134
#23	Hazel	20,154
#24	Gertrude	19,898
#25	Martha	19,415
#26	Pearl	19,054
#27	Frances	18,090
#28	Myrtle	17,717
#29	Edith	17,650
#30	Nellie	17,285
#31	Sarah	17,154
#32	Ella	17,072
#33	Eva	16,460
#34	Laura	16,433
#35	Elsie	16,375
#36	Louise	15,174
#37	Esther	14,737
#38	Catherine	14,502
#39	Agnes	14,429
#40	Carrie	14,276
#41	Lillie	14,093
#42	Mildred	13,792
#43	Gladys	13,622
#44	Irene	13,621
#45	Julia	13,448
#46	Hattie	12,909
#47	Cora	12,880
#48	Lena	12,491
#49	Josephine	12,463
#50	Mattie	12,449
#51	Jennie	11,876
#52	Jessie	11,870
#53	Maude	11,304
#54	Alma	11,184
#55	Mae	10,918
#56	Blanche	10,860
#57	Dorothy	10,846
#58	Ada	10,379
#59	Lucy	10,323
#60	Lula	10,238
#61	Mamie	10,085
#62	Fannie	9,898
#63	Stella	9,807
#64	Katherine	9,408
#65	Viola	9,386
#66	Ruby	8,699
#67	Dora	8,684
#68	Maggie	8,607
#69	Nora	8,293
#70	Rosa	7,881
#71	Beatrice	7,500
#72	Ellen	7,435
#73	Sadie	7,398
#74	Marion	7,310
#75	Willie	7,109
#76	Effie	6,961
#77	May	6,880
#78	Beulah	6,785
#79	Pauline	6,635
#80	Nettie	6,538
#81	Susie	6,530
#82	Della	6,410
#83	Vera	6,377
#84	Marguerite	6,376
#85	Daisy	6,249
#86	Lydia	5,942
#87	Virginia	5,864
#88	Olive	5,713
#89	Kathryn	5,653
#90	Evelyn	5,648
#91	Sallie	5,580
#92	Lizzie	5,556
#93	Lottie	5,499
#94	Emily	5,476
#95	Georgia	5,445
#96	Flora	5,442
#97	Nancy	5,346
#98	Katie	5,178
#99	Lucille	5,105
#100	Leona	5,083

Top 100 boys’ names, 1890s

Rank	Name	Boys in decade
#1	John	80,664
#2	William	72,244
#3	James	50,723
#4	George	43,358
#5	Charles	36,848
#6	Joseph	29,000
#7	Frank	28,718
#8	Robert	26,147
#9	Edward	22,033
#10	Henry	21,664
#11	Harry	21,330
#12	Thomas	21,115
#13	Walter	19,495
#14	Arthur	16,349
#15	Fred	14,270
#16	Albert	13,753
#17	Clarence	11,901
#18	Willie	9,849
#19	Roy	9,779
#20	Louis	8,442
#21	Earl	8,297
#22	Paul	8,181
#23	Carl	8,047
#24	Ernest	7,877
#25	Samuel	7,857
#26	Raymond	7,572
#27	Richard	7,572
#28	Joe	7,482
#29	David	7,333
#30	Charlie	7,261
#31	Harold	7,018
#32	Ralph	6,951
#33	Howard	5,949
#34	Andrew	5,719
#35	Herbert	5,660
#36	Elmer	5,647
#37	Oscar	5,612
#38	Jesse	5,396
#39	Alfred	5,373
#40	Will	5,210
#41	Daniel	5,185
#42	Sam	4,941
#43	Leo	4,691
#44	Jack	4,635
#45	Lawrence	4,597
#46	Francis	4,535
#47	Benjamin	4,460
#48	Lee	4,384
#49	Eugene	4,303
#50	Herman	4,232
#51	Peter	4,028
#52	Frederick	3,994
#53	Floyd	3,957
#54	Michael	3,926
#55	Ray	3,763
#56	Lewis	3,699
#57	Claude	3,636
#58	Clyde	3,625
#59	Edwin	3,505
#60	Tom	3,335
#61	Martin	3,254
#62	Leonard	3,166
#63	Ben	3,156
#64	Chester	3,021
#65	Edgar	2,982
#66	Jim	2,841
#67	Harvey	2,822
#68	Russell	2,780
#69	Lester	2,702
#70	Clifford	2,701
#71	Luther	2,668
#72	Homer	2,637
#73	Jacob	2,551
#74	Leroy	2,544
#75	Otto	2,543
#76	Guy	2,487
#77	Lloyd	2,480
#78	Anthony	2,453
#79	Jessie	2,424
#80	Hugh	2,405
#81	Ed	2,346
#82	Bernard	2,315
#83	Theodore	2,300
#84	Stanley	2,297
#85	Eddie	2,284
#86	Patrick	2,233
#87	Philip	2,147
#88	Leon	2,103
#89	Archie	2,068
#90	Leslie	2,063
#91	Oliver	2,035
#92	Allen	2,002
#93	Alexander	1,954
#94	Dewey	1,921
#95	Ira	1,916
#96	Everett	1,902
#97	Norman	1,891
#98	Horace	1,814
#99	Victor	1,811
#100	Cecil	1,808