US baby names · 1891

Most popular baby names of 1891

In 1891, Social Security card applications recorded 185,482 girls and 101,191 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,533 distinct girls’ names and 1,127 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (11,704 girls) and John (7,680 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 21% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 38% of boys. Compared with 1890, 14,728 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1890, 2 girls’ names and 3 boys’ names in 1891 are newcomers (girls: Vera, Marion; boys: Everett, Horace, Norman). Of these names, 20 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 1891 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1890 1892 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1891

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	11,704
#2	Anna	5,099
#3	Margaret	3,065
#4	Elizabeth	3,059
#5	Emma	2,884
#6	Florence	2,716
#7	Ethel	2,689
#8	Minnie	2,428
#9	Helen	2,417
#10	Bertha	2,372
#11	Clara	2,360
#12	Bessie	2,323
#13	Annie	2,096
#14	Grace	2,088
#15	Mabel	2,029
#16	Alice	2,015
#17	Ida	2,002
#18	Edna	1,963
#19	Ruth	1,857
#20	Lillian	1,812
#21	Martha	1,744
#22	Rose	1,696
#23	Ella	1,685
#24	Sarah	1,669
#25	Nellie	1,647
#26	Gertrude	1,645
#27	Pearl	1,605
#28	Marie	1,596
#29	Edith	1,509
#30	Laura	1,509
#31	Myrtle	1,458
#32	Hazel	1,447
#33	Eva	1,412
#34	Frances	1,397
#35	Cora	1,343
#36	Carrie	1,342
#37	Louise	1,333
#38	Elsie	1,303
#39	Lillie	1,247
#40	Jennie	1,238
#41	Catherine	1,219
#42	Hattie	1,219
#43	Julia	1,200
#44	Maude	1,188
#45	Lena	1,174
#46	Mattie	1,165
#47	Agnes	1,125
#48	Jessie	1,119
#49	Josephine	1,031
#50	Lula	1,010
#51	Ada	975
#52	Irene	950
#53	Lucy	944
#54	Mae	933
#55	Alma	929
#56	Blanche	917
#57	Fannie	916
#58	Dora	870
#59	Stella	867
#60	Maggie	841
#61	Mamie	830
#62	Katherine	803
#63	Nora	801
#64	Mildred	761
#65	Rosa	729
#66	Esther	710
#67	Effie	704
#68	May	696
#69	Ellen	675
#70	Gladys	633
#71	Nettie	620
#72	Sadie	617
#73	Viola	609
#74	Della	607
#75	Sallie	569
#76	Dorothy	566
#77	Susie	566
#78	Willie	562
#79	Daisy	557
#80	Ruby	554
#81	Beulah	526
#82	Lizzie	525
#83	Nancy	523
#84	Marguerite	511
#85	Olive	509
#86	Lydia	507
#87	Kathryn	504
#88	Lottie	501
#89	Flora	497
#90	Katie	494
#91	Beatrice	485
#92	Addie	467
#93	Pauline	455
#94	Etta	452
#95	Emily	444
#96	Georgia	444
#97	Virginia	439
#98	Vera	426
#99	Marion	413
#100	Caroline	402

Top 100 boys’ names, 1891

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	7,680
#2	William	6,763
#3	James	4,516
#4	George	3,931
#5	Charles	3,640
#6	Frank	2,652
#7	Joseph	2,572
#8	Robert	2,240
#9	Harry	2,132
#10	Henry	2,049
#11	Edward	1,989
#12	Thomas	1,982
#13	Walter	1,668
#14	Arthur	1,514
#15	Fred	1,362
#16	Albert	1,207
#17	Clarence	1,007
#18	Roy	838
#19	Louis	786
#20	Samuel	753
#21	Willie	739
#22	Ernest	715
#23	Charlie	707
#24	Carl	675
#25	Earl	674
#26	David	673
#27	Richard	609
#28	Ralph	587
#29	Joe	584
#30	Raymond	575
#31	Paul	564
#32	Oscar	551
#33	Andrew	521
#34	Will	520
#35	Jesse	519
#36	Elmer	508
#37	Daniel	505
#38	Herbert	501
#39	Alfred	499
#40	Howard	485
#41	Benjamin	461
#42	Harold	419
#43	Sam	418
#44	Frederick	412
#45	Peter	396
#46	Lawrence	389
#47	Herman	383
#48	Eugene	362
#49	Ray	360
#50	Lewis	357
#51	Leo	353
#52	Lee	342
#53	Floyd	336
#54	Francis	333
#55	Michael	333
#56	Martin	331
#57	Claude	327
#58	Clyde	327
#59	Edwin	327
#60	Tom	318
#61	Ben	302
#62	Jack	290
#63	Jim	288
#64	Edgar	277
#65	Harvey	274
#66	Otto	274
#67	Guy	262
#68	Chester	252
#69	Jacob	238
#70	Ed	237
#71	Luther	236
#72	Leonard	235
#73	Hugh	233
#74	Homer	230
#75	Jessie	227
#76	Theodore	224
#77	Oliver	212
#78	Patrick	212
#79	Archie	201
#80	Philip	198
#81	Clifford	196
#82	Charley	193
#83	Lester	191
#84	Leroy	190
#85	Bernard	187
#86	August	186
#87	Russell	186
#88	Lloyd	185
#89	Bert	181
#90	Eddie	179
#91	Ira	179
#92	Stanley	178
#93	Everett	174
#94	Allen	173
#95	Alexander	172
#96	Anthony	170
#97	Horace	165
#98	Leslie	164
#99	Grover	163
#100	Norman	163