US baby names · 1896

Most popular baby names of 1896

In 1896, Social Security card applications recorded 237,918 girls and 119,565 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,825 distinct girls’ names and 1,266 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (13,811 girls) and John (8,138 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 20% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 35% of boys. Compared with 1895, 6,463 more babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1895, 3 girls’ names and 2 boys’ names in 1896 are newcomers (girls: Lucille, Leona, Hilda; boys: Milton, Isaac). 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 1896 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1895 1897 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1896

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	13,811
#2	Anna	5,860
#3	Helen	4,392
#4	Margaret	4,050
#5	Ruth	3,905
#6	Ethel	3,502
#7	Elizabeth	3,471
#8	Florence	3,323
#9	Marie	3,087
#10	Emma	2,872
#11	Lillian	2,702
#12	Alice	2,651
#13	Edna	2,604
#14	Clara	2,582
#15	Bertha	2,565
#16	Minnie	2,530
#17	Grace	2,485
#18	Bessie	2,435
#19	Annie	2,358
#20	Rose	2,341
#21	Mabel	2,283
#22	Hazel	2,226
#23	Gertrude	2,221
#24	Ida	2,159
#25	Pearl	2,101
#26	Martha	2,022
#27	Esther	1,964
#28	Frances	1,964
#29	Edith	1,932
#30	Myrtle	1,928
#31	Elsie	1,878
#32	Eva	1,779
#33	Gladys	1,757
#34	Nellie	1,696
#35	Sarah	1,691
#36	Ella	1,683
#37	Laura	1,665
#38	Agnes	1,654
#39	Mildred	1,620
#40	Catherine	1,594
#41	Irene	1,593
#42	Louise	1,531
#43	Lillie	1,483
#44	Julia	1,407
#45	Carrie	1,388
#46	Dorothy	1,366
#47	Hattie	1,320
#48	Lena	1,318
#49	Mattie	1,288
#50	Josephine	1,256
#51	Alma	1,243
#52	Cora	1,204
#53	Jennie	1,178
#54	Blanche	1,150
#55	Mae	1,148
#56	Maude	1,104
#57	Jessie	1,103
#58	Mamie	1,081
#59	Lucy	1,074
#60	Stella	1,054
#61	Katherine	1,047
#62	Viola	1,047
#63	Ada	1,041
#64	Lula	1,012
#65	Fannie	1,001
#66	Ruby	994
#67	Marion	987
#68	Dora	874
#69	Maggie	871
#70	Beatrice	870
#71	Nora	844
#72	Sadie	827
#73	Ellen	811
#74	Rosa	808
#75	Pauline	756
#76	Willie	755
#77	Beulah	750
#78	Marguerite	725
#79	Susie	718
#80	Effie	716
#81	Vera	675
#82	May	671
#83	Daisy	661
#84	Evelyn	646
#85	Della	642
#86	Lucille	637
#87	Nettie	628
#88	Kathryn	625
#89	Virginia	621
#90	Olive	583
#91	Lydia	580
#92	Lottie	574
#93	Georgia	562
#94	Leona	556
#95	Hilda	549
#96	Emily	527
#97	Flora	527
#98	Nancy	527
#99	Katie	516
#100	Lizzie	508

Top 100 boys’ names, 1896

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	8,138
#2	William	7,747
#3	James	5,206
#4	George	4,286
#5	Charles	3,639
#6	Joseph	3,051
#7	Frank	2,845
#8	Robert	2,719
#9	Edward	2,296
#10	Henry	2,183
#11	Harry	2,091
#12	Thomas	2,088
#13	Walter	2,017
#14	Arthur	1,821
#15	Albert	1,434
#16	Fred	1,393
#17	Clarence	1,254
#18	Willie	1,092
#19	Roy	1,027
#20	Paul	964
#21	Earl	892
#22	Louis	871
#23	Harold	862
#24	Raymond	859
#25	Carl	852
#26	Richard	834
#27	Joe	767
#28	David	765
#29	Ernest	764
#30	Ralph	746
#31	Samuel	734
#32	Charlie	714
#33	Howard	677
#34	Herbert	635
#35	Jesse	586
#36	Elmer	576
#37	Andrew	566
#38	Daniel	561
#39	Francis	551
#40	Jack	539
#41	Oscar	539
#42	Alfred	527
#43	Sam	518
#44	Will	508
#45	Eugene	507
#46	Lawrence	499
#47	Leo	497
#48	Lee	455
#49	Herman	427
#50	Ray	426
#51	Benjamin	416
#52	Peter	402
#53	Michael	399
#54	Claude	398
#55	Floyd	396
#56	Lewis	386
#57	Frederick	381
#58	Clyde	372
#59	Edwin	351
#60	Leonard	350
#61	Martin	343
#62	Tom	339
#63	Chester	329
#64	Russell	327
#65	Lester	318
#66	Clifford	311
#67	Lloyd	308
#68	Edgar	306
#69	Ben	299
#70	Harvey	292
#71	Jim	281
#72	Leroy	278
#73	Anthony	276
#74	Luther	265
#75	Hugh	263
#76	Eddie	262
#77	Guy	262
#78	Stanley	259
#79	Homer	258
#80	Otto	250
#81	Ed	246
#82	Bernard	241
#83	Jacob	241
#84	Theodore	241
#85	Leslie	237
#86	Leon	235
#87	Alexander	232
#88	Archie	230
#89	Jessie	229
#90	Everett	224
#91	Allen	219
#92	Philip	218
#93	Patrick	214
#94	Donald	211
#95	Horace	204
#96	Victor	201
#97	Cecil	200
#98	Milton	194
#99	Oliver	194
#100	Isaac	191