Most popular baby names of 1880

In 1880, Social Security card applications recorded 90,994 girls and 110,490 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 942 distinct girls’ names and 1,058 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (7,065 girls) and John (9,655 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 25% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 44% of boys.

1880 is the start of SSA’s national series, so there is no earlier top 100 to compare with. Counts for these early years are low because many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so SSA’s files leave them out. Of these names, 21 of the 100 girls’ names and 23 of the 100 boys’ names are still in the top 100 in 2025.

Ranks follow SSA’s order: most births first, with ties listed alphabetically. Each sparkline shows the name’s full history from 1880 to 2025, so you can see whether a 1880 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.