US baby names · 1885

Most popular baby names of 1885

In 1885, Social Security card applications recorded 133,055 girls and 107,799 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,197 distinct girls’ names and 1,097 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (9,128 girls) and John (8,756 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 23% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 41% of boys. Compared with 1884, 2,606 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1884, 3 girls’ names and 5 boys’ names in 1885 are newcomers (girls: Beulah, Ollie, Rebecca; boys: Sidney, Bernard, Alex). Of these names, 19 of the 100 girls’ names and 24 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 1885 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1884 1886 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1885

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	9,128
#2	Anna	3,994
#3	Emma	2,728
#4	Elizabeth	2,582
#5	Margaret	2,204
#6	Minnie	2,178
#7	Clara	1,910
#8	Bertha	1,860
#9	Ida	1,854
#10	Annie	1,703
#11	Alice	1,681
#12	Florence	1,667
#13	Bessie	1,588
#14	Grace	1,575
#15	Ethel	1,495
#16	Nellie	1,432
#17	Martha	1,425
#18	Sarah	1,424
#19	Ella	1,395
#20	Mabel	1,349
#21	Laura	1,325
#22	Carrie	1,283
#23	Cora	1,253
#24	Maude	1,222
#25	Rose	1,164
#26	Pearl	1,146
#27	Lillian	1,143
#28	Helen	1,134
#29	Gertrude	1,086
#30	Edna	1,077
#31	Edith	1,071
#32	Julia	1,062
#33	Jennie	1,045
#34	Myrtle	1,026
#35	Mattie	1,014
#36	Hattie	1,008
#37	Lillie	979
#38	Eva	971
#39	Louise	956
#40	Jessie	952
#41	Lula	949
#42	Marie	885
#43	Ada	876
#44	Lena	876
#45	Catherine	846
#46	Frances	844
#47	Fannie	783
#48	Josephine	783
#49	Dora	776
#50	Katherine	751
#51	Maggie	716
#52	Lucy	711
#53	Blanche	710
#54	Agnes	695
#55	Elsie	685
#56	Nora	670
#57	Stella	649
#58	Rosa	623
#59	Effie	613
#60	Daisy	607
#61	May	607
#62	Mamie	606
#63	Mae	578
#64	Ellen	555
#65	Lizzie	537
#66	Nettie	536
#67	Nancy	527
#68	Alma	515
#69	Sadie	514
#70	Ruth	506
#71	Della	500
#72	Susie	477
#73	Sallie	457
#74	Flora	445
#75	Maud	429
#76	Addie	406
#77	Lydia	404
#78	Caroline	399
#79	Mollie	396
#80	Lottie	393
#81	Katie	388
#82	Irene	376
#83	Etta	372
#84	Georgia	371
#85	Lulu	360
#86	Olive	349
#87	Emily	346
#88	Viola	345
#89	Harriet	342
#90	Amanda	339
#91	Jane	330
#92	Esther	320
#93	Kathryn	320
#94	Charlotte	317
#95	Willie	312
#96	Beulah	309
#97	Kate	309
#98	Ollie	305
#99	Rebecca	302
#100	Susan	302

Top 100 boys’ names, 1885

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	8,756
#2	William	8,044
#3	James	5,175
#4	George	4,674
#5	Charles	4,599
#6	Frank	3,067
#7	Joseph	2,540
#8	Henry	2,406
#9	Robert	2,322
#10	Thomas	2,266
#11	Edward	2,220
#12	Harry	2,198
#13	Walter	1,808
#14	Fred	1,562
#15	Arthur	1,516
#16	Albert	1,429
#17	Clarence	906
#18	Samuel	888
#19	Louis	809
#20	Grover	768
#21	Ernest	718
#22	David	712
#23	Charlie	705
#24	Roy	691
#25	Joe	681
#26	Richard	672
#27	Will	625
#28	Oscar	623
#29	Willie	614
#30	Andrew	599
#31	Jesse	556
#32	Daniel	535
#33	Peter	516
#34	Carl	494
#35	Sam	492
#36	Earl	481
#37	Frederick	466
#38	Benjamin	464
#39	Alfred	446
#40	Elmer	443
#41	Howard	438
#42	Lewis	437
#43	Paul	428
#44	Ralph	422
#45	Herbert	388
#46	Jim	370
#47	Michael	370
#48	Tom	361
#49	Martin	357
#50	Lee	348
#51	Eugene	345
#52	Claude	343
#53	Jacob	343
#54	Ed	328
#55	Herman	326
#56	Francis	319
#57	Clyde	318
#58	Raymond	308
#59	Harvey	304
#60	Edgar	303
#61	Jack	295
#62	Ben	292
#63	Edwin	289
#64	Lawrence	288
#65	Charley	285
#66	Bert	276
#67	Chester	273
#68	Guy	266
#69	Otto	263
#70	Floyd	259
#71	Luther	259
#72	Oliver	258
#73	Hugh	257
#74	Ray	237
#75	Ira	235
#76	Homer	228
#77	Patrick	217
#78	Alexander	205
#79	Isaac	204
#80	Leonard	204
#81	Jessie	202
#82	Harold	201
#83	Leo	199
#84	Theodore	199
#85	Archie	196
#86	August	193
#87	Allen	184
#88	Sidney	170
#89	Philip	163
#90	Leroy	162
#91	Bernard	160
#92	Alex	159
#93	Stephen	158
#94	Horace	155
#95	Anthony	153
#96	Warren	151
#97	Julius	150
#98	Cleveland	147
#99	Leon	146
#100	Victor	143