US baby names · 1881

Most popular baby names of 1881

In 1881, Social Security card applications recorded 91,953 girls and 100,735 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 938 distinct girls’ names and 996 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (6,919 girls) and John (8,768 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 24% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 44% of boys. Compared with 1880, 8,796 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1880, 2 girls’ names and 5 boys’ names in 1881 are newcomers (girls: Willie, Kathryn; boys: Garfield, Emil, Dave). Of these names, 20 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 1881 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1880 1882 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1881

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	6,919
#2	Anna	2,698
#3	Emma	2,034
#4	Elizabeth	1,852
#5	Margaret	1,658
#6	Minnie	1,653
#7	Ida	1,439
#8	Annie	1,326
#9	Bertha	1,324
#10	Alice	1,308
#11	Clara	1,242
#12	Sarah	1,226
#13	Ella	1,148
#14	Nellie	1,096
#15	Grace	1,089
#16	Florence	1,046
#17	Martha	1,044
#18	Cora	969
#19	Laura	962
#20	Carrie	958
#21	Maude	923
#22	Bessie	903
#23	Mabel	893
#24	Gertrude	791
#25	Ethel	788
#26	Jennie	784
#27	Edith	778
#28	Hattie	775
#29	Mattie	754
#30	Julia	737
#31	Rose	734
#32	Lillian	723
#33	Lillie	678
#34	Eva	661
#35	Jessie	661
#36	Lula	655
#37	Myrtle	643
#38	Pearl	641
#39	Edna	637
#40	Catherine	635
#41	Ada	628
#42	Louise	617
#43	Helen	612
#44	Lucy	611
#45	Frances	586
#46	Dora	585
#47	Fannie	565
#48	Josephine	563
#49	Daisy	562
#50	Lena	555
#51	Maggie	532
#52	Katherine	504
#53	Rosa	500
#54	Marie	499
#55	Nora	498
#56	Effie	463
#57	Blanche	456
#58	May	451
#59	Nancy	429
#60	Della	428
#61	Agnes	424
#62	Nettie	419
#63	Sallie	416
#64	Stella	416
#65	Ellen	413
#66	Mamie	412
#67	Lizzie	396
#68	Susie	367
#69	Sadie	366
#70	Elsie	344
#71	Maud	328
#72	Flora	317
#73	Caroline	316
#74	Etta	316
#75	Mae	314
#76	Lulu	313
#77	Lydia	299
#78	Alma	293
#79	Susan	292
#80	Lottie	289
#81	Addie	287
#82	Mollie	281
#83	Katie	279
#84	Ruth	275
#85	Harriet	270
#86	Kate	267
#87	Amanda	263
#88	Nannie	258
#89	Georgia	256
#90	Emily	244
#91	Eliza	238
#92	Viola	237
#93	Amelia	235
#94	Willie	229
#95	Charlotte	227
#96	Rebecca	226
#97	Belle	219
#98	Kathryn	218
#99	Jane	216
#100	Olive	211

Top 100 boys’ names, 1881

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	8,768
#2	William	8,524
#3	James	5,441
#4	George	4,664
#5	Charles	4,636
#6	Frank	2,834
#7	Joseph	2,456
#8	Henry	2,339
#9	Thomas	2,282
#10	Edward	2,177
#11	Robert	2,140
#12	Harry	2,002
#13	Walter	1,670
#14	Arthur	1,575
#15	Fred	1,418
#16	Albert	1,319
#17	Samuel	919
#18	David	750
#19	Louis	746
#20	Charlie	668
#21	Clarence	668
#22	Richard	641
#23	Joe	639
#24	Andrew	588
#25	Ernest	571
#26	Will	550
#27	Jesse	536
#28	Oscar	530
#29	Daniel	527
#30	Willie	498
#31	Benjamin	481
#32	Sam	481
#33	Alfred	466
#34	Roy	440
#35	Lewis	439
#36	Frederick	433
#37	Peter	428
#38	Elmer	388
#39	Jacob	381
#40	Herbert	369
#41	Carl	359
#42	Howard	359
#43	Tom	349
#44	Lee	342
#45	Ralph	329
#46	Martin	327
#47	Jim	323
#48	Earl	314
#49	Eugene	314
#50	Bert	312
#51	Edgar	312
#52	Herman	304
#53	Claude	302
#54	Michael	298
#55	Paul	291
#56	Ben	289
#57	Ira	286
#58	Harvey	282
#59	Chester	274
#60	Edwin	274
#61	Ed	272
#62	Charley	266
#63	Francis	259
#64	Isaac	258
#65	Luther	249
#66	Lawrence	244
#67	Oliver	238
#68	Clyde	232
#69	Otto	221
#70	Hugh	219
#71	Alexander	209
#72	Leonard	206
#73	Jack	197
#74	Raymond	195
#75	Patrick	188
#76	Guy	186
#77	Homer	181
#78	Floyd	178
#79	Theodore	178
#80	Allen	172
#81	August	172
#82	Marion	162
#83	Philip	156
#84	Warren	156
#85	Horace	152
#86	Dan	148
#87	Ray	148
#88	Garfield	147
#89	Stephen	147
#90	Emil	145
#91	Jessie	143
#92	Milton	143
#93	Willis	142
#94	Calvin	138
#95	Dave	135
#96	Bernard	130
#97	Julius	129
#98	Leroy	129
#99	Sidney	129
#100	Anthony	128