US baby names · 1889

Most popular baby names of 1889

In 1889, Social Security card applications recorded 178,366 girls and 110,580 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,479 distinct girls’ names and 1,111 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (11,648 girls) and John (8,548 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 1888, 10,528 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1888, 3 girls’ names and 4 boys’ names in 1889 are newcomers (girls: Gladys, Mollie, Nannie; boys: Russell, Milton, Warren). 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 1889 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1888 1890 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1889

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	11,648
#2	Anna	5,062
#3	Elizabeth	3,058
#4	Margaret	2,917
#5	Emma	2,884
#6	Minnie	2,624
#7	Florence	2,465
#8	Ethel	2,463
#9	Bessie	2,343
#10	Clara	2,319
#11	Bertha	2,293
#12	Alice	2,145
#13	Annie	2,123
#14	Ida	2,122
#15	Grace	2,049
#16	Mabel	1,947
#17	Helen	1,909
#18	Edna	1,815
#19	Nellie	1,752
#20	Sarah	1,730
#21	Martha	1,711
#22	Ella	1,647
#23	Lillian	1,640
#24	Pearl	1,588
#25	Laura	1,567
#26	Rose	1,550
#27	Carrie	1,547
#28	Gertrude	1,543
#29	Edith	1,523
#30	Marie	1,436
#31	Eva	1,372
#32	Cora	1,365
#33	Myrtle	1,361
#34	Frances	1,351
#35	Hattie	1,328
#36	Maude	1,293
#37	Lillie	1,289
#38	Louise	1,283
#39	Jennie	1,252
#40	Julia	1,201
#41	Elsie	1,199
#42	Catherine	1,198
#43	Jessie	1,196
#44	Mattie	1,173
#45	Lena	1,096
#46	Ruth	1,073
#47	Lula	1,067
#48	Hazel	1,056
#49	Josephine	1,047
#50	Agnes	1,033
#51	Ada	1,005
#52	Blanche	972
#53	Fannie	909
#54	Lucy	893
#55	Stella	891
#56	Katherine	889
#57	Mae	883
#58	Mamie	883
#59	Dora	882
#60	Nora	831
#61	Maggie	825
#62	Alma	819
#63	Irene	737
#64	May	723
#65	Effie	711
#66	Rosa	707
#67	Sadie	664
#68	Ellen	653
#69	Mildred	625
#70	Nettie	622
#71	Susie	607
#72	Della	606
#73	Daisy	583
#74	Lizzie	570
#75	Esther	553
#76	Viola	536
#77	Sallie	525
#78	Ruby	522
#79	Flora	516
#80	Katie	502
#81	Beulah	498
#82	Lottie	498
#83	Lydia	496
#84	Caroline	491
#85	Willie	488
#86	Nancy	470
#87	Etta	465
#88	Olive	464
#89	Charlotte	455
#90	Addie	448
#91	Georgia	445
#92	Maud	432
#93	Emily	429
#94	Kathryn	415
#95	Pauline	415
#96	Gladys	414
#97	Amanda	413
#98	Mollie	402
#99	Harriet	397
#100	Nannie	396

Top 100 boys’ names, 1889

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	8,548
#2	William	7,772
#3	James	5,020
#4	George	4,430
#5	Charles	4,199
#6	Frank	2,975
#7	Joseph	2,729
#8	Harry	2,559
#9	Robert	2,513
#10	Edward	2,299
#11	Henry	2,286
#12	Thomas	2,233
#13	Walter	1,916
#14	Arthur	1,668
#15	Fred	1,554
#16	Albert	1,353
#17	Clarence	984
#18	Roy	888
#19	Louis	837
#20	Samuel	810
#21	Benjamin	760
#22	David	757
#23	Ernest	736
#24	Richard	711
#25	Joe	709
#26	Willie	708
#27	Carl	704
#28	Earl	688
#29	Charlie	685
#30	Will	631
#31	Jesse	576
#32	Oscar	572
#33	Andrew	561
#34	Elmer	557
#35	Paul	555
#36	Daniel	515
#37	Raymond	511
#38	Howard	503
#39	Ralph	495
#40	Sam	486
#41	Alfred	472
#42	Herbert	472
#43	Ben	453
#44	Frederick	451
#45	Peter	425
#46	Lee	415
#47	Lewis	414
#48	Herman	405
#49	Claude	386
#50	Tom	379
#51	Michael	377
#52	Eugene	369
#53	Martin	367
#54	Ray	355
#55	Francis	346
#56	Lawrence	342
#57	Harold	340
#58	Jim	328
#59	Leo	325
#60	Edgar	322
#61	Jack	322
#62	Clyde	318
#63	Floyd	313
#64	Harvey	311
#65	Otto	309
#66	Edwin	306
#67	Jacob	295
#68	Harrison	288
#69	Chester	274
#70	Guy	271
#71	Ed	270
#72	Luther	270
#73	Homer	255
#74	Patrick	236
#75	Bert	231
#76	Theodore	231
#77	Leonard	229
#78	Hugh	225
#79	Allen	222
#80	Anthony	219
#81	Bernard	215
#82	Lester	213
#83	Grover	210
#84	Oliver	210
#85	Ira	207
#86	Jessie	207
#87	Clifford	202
#88	Charley	199
#89	Russell	198
#90	Archie	195
#91	Isaac	188
#92	Leroy	186
#93	Alexander	185
#94	Leon	184
#95	Philip	183
#96	August	171
#97	Milton	171
#98	Lloyd	167
#99	Warren	167
#100	Horace	166