US baby names · 1887

Most popular baby names of 1887

In 1887, Social Security card applications recorded 145,981 girls and 101,410 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,306 distinct girls’ names and 1,067 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (9,888 girls) and John (8,110 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 22% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 40% of boys. Compared with 1886, 7,925 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1886, 4 girls’ names and 4 boys’ names in 1887 are newcomers (girls: Mildred, Amelia, Ollie; boys: Leslie, Warren, Leon). Of these names, 21 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 1887 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

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Top 100 girls’ names, 1887

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	9,888
#2	Anna	4,227
#3	Elizabeth	2,681
#4	Emma	2,647
#5	Margaret	2,419
#6	Minnie	2,215
#7	Bertha	2,037
#8	Clara	1,984
#9	Florence	1,964
#10	Ida	1,929
#11	Ethel	1,907
#12	Annie	1,844
#13	Bessie	1,838
#14	Alice	1,819
#15	Grace	1,692
#16	Ella	1,521
#17	Martha	1,504
#18	Mabel	1,494
#19	Nellie	1,457
#20	Sarah	1,436
#21	Helen	1,405
#22	Laura	1,364
#23	Carrie	1,344
#24	Edna	1,339
#25	Pearl	1,316
#26	Lillian	1,308
#27	Cora	1,257
#28	Gertrude	1,251
#29	Edith	1,243
#30	Rose	1,242
#31	Maude	1,162
#32	Hattie	1,135
#33	Eva	1,125
#34	Frances	1,105
#35	Louise	1,088
#36	Myrtle	1,087
#37	Lillie	1,072
#38	Jennie	1,047
#39	Julia	1,043
#40	Mattie	1,031
#41	Jessie	1,012
#42	Lena	1,004
#43	Marie	994
#44	Catherine	967
#45	Ada	910
#46	Agnes	896
#47	Lula	891
#48	Dora	842
#49	Elsie	833
#50	Josephine	815
#51	Lucy	811
#52	Fannie	798
#53	Katherine	794
#54	Blanche	763
#55	Maggie	740
#56	Nora	735
#57	Mamie	716
#58	Mae	680
#59	Stella	664
#60	Rosa	659
#61	May	648
#62	Ruth	627
#63	Alma	623
#64	Effie	615
#65	Nettie	595
#66	Ellen	579
#67	Daisy	532
#68	Lizzie	525
#69	Sallie	525
#70	Sadie	519
#71	Nancy	511
#72	Hazel	504
#73	Irene	504
#74	Della	496
#75	Susie	485
#76	Lydia	448
#77	Katie	440
#78	Etta	437
#79	Esther	431
#80	Viola	420
#81	Lottie	414
#82	Flora	408
#83	Maud	402
#84	Caroline	398
#85	Olive	394
#86	Addie	393
#87	Kathryn	384
#88	Willie	379
#89	Mildred	373
#90	Beulah	355
#91	Charlotte	351
#92	Georgia	351
#93	Amelia	344
#94	Harriet	342
#95	Nannie	340
#96	Amanda	338
#97	Ollie	338
#98	Emily	335
#99	Susan	335
#100	Mollie	333

Top 100 boys’ names, 1887

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	8,110
#2	William	7,470
#3	James	4,767
#4	George	4,284
#5	Charles	4,031
#6	Frank	2,883
#7	Joseph	2,456
#8	Henry	2,228
#9	Thomas	2,151
#10	Edward	2,125
#11	Robert	2,125
#12	Harry	2,057
#13	Walter	1,704
#14	Arthur	1,489
#15	Fred	1,454
#16	Albert	1,294
#17	Clarence	892
#18	Samuel	802
#19	Louis	791
#20	Roy	726
#21	Joe	685
#22	David	673
#23	Ernest	653
#24	Charlie	642
#25	Richard	622
#26	Jesse	601
#27	Willie	590
#28	Carl	588
#29	Oscar	574
#30	Will	561
#31	Daniel	556
#32	Earl	537
#33	Andrew	520
#34	Benjamin	473
#35	Alfred	468
#36	Elmer	467
#37	Frederick	464
#38	Ralph	463
#39	Sam	463
#40	Paul	449
#41	Herbert	445
#42	Howard	429
#43	Peter	421
#44	Lee	400
#45	Herman	394
#46	Claude	375
#47	Raymond	372
#48	Michael	344
#49	Lewis	343
#50	Jim	339
#51	Martin	331
#52	Tom	329
#53	Eugene	327
#54	Francis	327
#55	Clyde	320
#56	Jacob	317
#57	Edwin	310
#58	Ben	305
#59	Grover	290
#60	Lawrence	283
#61	Harold	279
#62	Ed	275
#63	Luther	267
#64	Edgar	266
#65	Harvey	262
#66	Ray	258
#67	Otto	253
#68	Jack	251
#69	Hugh	250
#70	Homer	248
#71	Guy	238
#72	Bert	237
#73	Floyd	232
#74	Leo	232
#75	Charley	221
#76	Patrick	218
#77	Ira	215
#78	Chester	207
#79	Leonard	207
#80	Oliver	203
#81	Allen	202
#82	Theodore	201
#83	August	194
#84	Isaac	194
#85	Archie	184
#86	Jessie	182
#87	Alexander	180
#88	Leroy	177
#89	Lester	168
#90	Leslie	166
#91	Clifford	165
#92	Stephen	165
#93	Julius	164
#94	Warren	163
#95	Philip	161
#96	Horace	160
#97	Bernard	159
#98	Anthony	153
#99	Leon	147
#100	Emil	146