Most popular baby names of 1897

In 1897, Social Security card applications recorded 234,200 girls and 112,757 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,799 distinct girls’ names and 1,229 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (13,413 girls) and John (7,550 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 1896, 10,526 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1896, 4 girls’ names and 5 boys’ names in 1897 are newcomers (girls: Eleanor, Ann, Sallie; boys: Norman, Stephen, Alvin). Of these names, 20 of the 100 girls’ names and 21 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 1897 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.