US baby names · 1888

Most popular baby names of 1888

In 1888, Social Security card applications recorded 178,622 girls and 120,852 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,474 distinct girls’ names and 1,177 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (11,754 girls) and John (9,247 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 21% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 39% of boys. Compared with 1887, 52,083 more babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1887, 4 girls’ names and 3 boys’ names in 1888 are newcomers (girls: Jane, Ruby, Pauline; boys: Harrison, Eddie, Lloyd). 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 1888 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1887 1889 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1888

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	11,754
#2	Anna	4,982
#3	Elizabeth	3,224
#4	Emma	3,087
#5	Margaret	2,904
#6	Minnie	2,654
#7	Bertha	2,450
#8	Florence	2,444
#9	Ethel	2,374
#10	Bessie	2,278
#11	Clara	2,230
#12	Ida	2,229
#13	Alice	2,202
#14	Annie	2,188
#15	Grace	2,090
#16	Helen	1,847
#17	Mabel	1,830
#18	Ella	1,774
#19	Martha	1,769
#20	Sarah	1,755
#21	Nellie	1,736
#22	Edna	1,687
#23	Lillian	1,656
#24	Carrie	1,647
#25	Laura	1,624
#26	Pearl	1,591
#27	Rose	1,590
#28	Gertrude	1,468
#29	Edith	1,453
#30	Frances	1,452
#31	Cora	1,433
#32	Maude	1,396
#33	Louise	1,334
#34	Eva	1,329
#35	Myrtle	1,310
#36	Hattie	1,298
#37	Jennie	1,298
#38	Julia	1,292
#39	Mattie	1,268
#40	Marie	1,258
#41	Lillie	1,249
#42	Catherine	1,212
#43	Jessie	1,200
#44	Lula	1,173
#45	Lena	1,162
#46	Ada	1,116
#47	Elsie	1,112
#48	Agnes	1,046
#49	Josephine	1,001
#50	Fannie	991
#51	Lucy	964
#52	Blanche	942
#53	Mamie	917
#54	Dora	898
#55	Hazel	898
#56	Katherine	893
#57	Maggie	882
#58	Alma	853
#59	Ruth	850
#60	Mae	836
#61	Nora	832
#62	Rosa	832
#63	May	782
#64	Stella	775
#65	Effie	744
#66	Irene	722
#67	Nettie	692
#68	Ellen	691
#69	Sadie	691
#70	Sallie	633
#71	Della	621
#72	Susie	621
#73	Daisy	612
#74	Viola	596
#75	Lizzie	593
#76	Nancy	582
#77	Esther	572
#78	Flora	541
#79	Willie	522
#80	Katie	516
#81	Lottie	511
#82	Etta	500
#83	Mildred	499
#84	Georgia	477
#85	Lydia	472
#86	Maud	469
#87	Olive	465
#88	Charlotte	464
#89	Caroline	458
#90	Emily	457
#91	Addie	455
#92	Jane	446
#93	Kathryn	446
#94	Ruby	445
#95	Beulah	426
#96	Ollie	411
#97	Amanda	404
#98	Pauline	393
#99	Harriet	389
#100	Virginia	385

Top 100 boys’ names, 1888

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	9,247
#2	William	8,705
#3	James	5,562
#4	George	4,912
#5	Charles	4,591
#6	Frank	3,459
#7	Joseph	2,993
#8	Robert	2,814
#9	Harry	2,759
#10	Henry	2,596
#11	Edward	2,470
#12	Thomas	2,449
#13	Walter	2,040
#14	Arthur	1,710
#15	Fred	1,665
#16	Albert	1,569
#17	Clarence	1,022
#18	Samuel	931
#19	Louis	884
#20	Roy	856
#21	David	801
#22	Charlie	796
#23	Joe	789
#24	Willie	786
#25	Benjamin	781
#26	Richard	772
#27	Ernest	766
#28	Will	707
#29	Carl	675
#30	Earl	675
#31	Oscar	647
#32	Jesse	637
#33	Andrew	615
#34	Sam	607
#35	Daniel	566
#36	Ralph	547
#37	Alfred	536
#38	Paul	529
#39	Elmer	527
#40	Howard	513
#41	Peter	498
#42	Frederick	496
#43	Herbert	485
#44	Grover	474
#45	Raymond	469
#46	Michael	466
#47	Ben	463
#48	Lee	430
#49	Tom	416
#50	Lewis	412
#51	Herman	403
#52	Harrison	400
#53	Eugene	398
#54	Martin	378
#55	Claude	374
#56	Jim	362
#57	Francis	353
#58	Jacob	353
#59	Leo	353
#60	Clyde	344
#61	Lawrence	343
#62	Harvey	334
#63	Ray	331
#64	Jack	329
#65	Edgar	321
#66	Otto	312
#67	Floyd	302
#68	Ed	301
#69	Edwin	298
#70	Harold	298
#71	Guy	297
#72	Chester	288
#73	Bert	282
#74	Luther	275
#75	Allen	260
#76	Homer	256
#77	Charley	254
#78	Jessie	254
#79	Hugh	253
#80	Theodore	249
#81	Patrick	245
#82	Alexander	237
#83	Leonard	225
#84	Ira	222
#85	Isaac	221
#86	August	213
#87	Bernard	207
#88	Oliver	206
#89	Julius	197
#90	Leon	196
#91	Philip	196
#92	Clifford	194
#93	Anthony	193
#94	Eddie	193
#95	Leroy	192
#96	Archie	191
#97	Lester	189
#98	Stephen	187
#99	Leslie	175
#100	Lloyd	175