US baby names · 1899

Most popular baby names of 1899

In 1899, Social Security card applications recorded 233,022 girls and 106,211 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 1,842 distinct girls’ names and 1,200 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (13,172 girls) and John (6,990 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 20% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 34% of boys. Compared with 1898, 42,221 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1898, 2 girls’ names and 3 boys’ names in 1899 are newcomers (girls: Ann, Lottie; boys: Allen, Otis, Alexander). Of these names, 21 of the 100 girls’ names and 22 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 1899 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1898 1900 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1899

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	13,172
#2	Anna	5,115
#3	Helen	5,048
#4	Margaret	4,249
#5	Ruth	3,912
#6	Florence	3,314
#7	Elizabeth	3,287
#8	Marie	3,156
#9	Ethel	2,999
#10	Lillian	2,703
#11	Edna	2,534
#12	Alice	2,523
#13	Emma	2,445
#14	Clara	2,441
#15	Grace	2,353
#16	Bertha	2,294
#17	Mildred	2,291
#18	Annie	2,289
#19	Bessie	2,280
#20	Gladys	2,228
#21	Rose	2,197
#22	Mabel	2,127
#23	Gertrude	2,110
#24	Frances	2,058
#25	Minnie	2,036
#26	Hazel	2,033
#27	Pearl	1,999
#28	Martha	1,907
#29	Esther	1,823
#30	Myrtle	1,821
#31	Ida	1,804
#32	Edith	1,794
#33	Elsie	1,706
#34	Irene	1,703
#35	Dorothy	1,687
#36	Catherine	1,628
#37	Agnes	1,611
#38	Sarah	1,587
#39	Eva	1,582
#40	Louise	1,536
#41	Nellie	1,510
#42	Ella	1,502
#43	Laura	1,472
#44	Josephine	1,388
#45	Lillie	1,350
#46	Carrie	1,346
#47	Julia	1,297
#48	Mattie	1,171
#49	Lena	1,159
#50	Viola	1,156
#51	Alma	1,146
#52	Ruby	1,103
#53	Hattie	1,087
#54	Jessie	1,081
#55	Blanche	1,063
#56	Beatrice	1,061
#57	Jennie	1,061
#58	Cora	1,056
#59	Mae	1,035
#60	Lucy	1,018
#61	Ada	984
#62	Stella	975
#63	Marion	973
#64	Mamie	966
#65	Katherine	942
#66	Maude	908
#67	Lula	894
#68	Fannie	886
#69	Vera	864
#70	Maggie	814
#71	Lucille	812
#72	Pauline	811
#73	Willie	806
#74	Evelyn	802
#75	Virginia	776
#76	Beulah	770
#77	Rosa	765
#78	Thelma	736
#79	Dora	718
#80	Nora	709
#81	Ellen	708
#82	Sadie	705
#83	Marguerite	693
#84	Leona	665
#85	Daisy	660
#86	Susie	622
#87	Hilda	621
#88	Kathryn	621
#89	Nettie	611
#90	Effie	597
#91	Della	595
#92	Ann	586
#93	Lottie	584
#94	Eleanor	575
#95	May	571
#96	Emily	569
#97	Lydia	566
#98	Olive	565
#99	Georgia	553
#100	Sallie	544

Top 100 boys’ names, 1899

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	6,990
#2	William	6,086
#3	James	4,597
#4	George	4,018
#5	Charles	3,147
#6	Joseph	2,679
#7	Robert	2,609
#8	Frank	2,550
#9	Edward	1,901
#10	Henry	1,831
#11	Thomas	1,811
#12	Walter	1,750
#13	Harry	1,732
#14	Arthur	1,357
#15	Albert	1,210
#16	Fred	1,182
#17	Clarence	1,139
#18	Willie	1,088
#19	Harold	914
#20	Roy	912
#21	Paul	885
#22	Raymond	869
#23	Earl	821
#24	Joe	780
#25	Carl	774
#26	Louis	770
#27	Ernest	744
#28	Richard	744
#29	Ralph	742
#30	Samuel	704
#31	Charlie	678
#32	David	646
#33	Herbert	590
#34	Howard	589
#35	Jack	582
#36	Andrew	578
#37	Elmer	514
#38	Francis	501
#39	Dewey	499
#40	Lawrence	497
#41	Alfred	496
#42	Daniel	485
#43	Leo	482
#44	Sam	469
#45	Eugene	449
#46	Oscar	447
#47	Jesse	423
#48	Will	414
#49	Herman	413
#50	Lee	388
#51	Michael	375
#52	Floyd	356
#53	Peter	354
#54	Lewis	352
#55	Frederick	350
#56	Russell	338
#57	Benjamin	335
#58	Clyde	330
#59	Edwin	329
#60	Leonard	321
#61	Ray	315
#62	Clifford	297
#63	Claude	293
#64	Anthony	291
#65	Lester	290
#66	Chester	288
#67	Tom	288
#68	Lloyd	287
#69	Leroy	269
#70	Jessie	261
#71	Jim	261
#72	Martin	260
#73	Ben	259
#74	Donald	258
#75	Eddie	258
#76	Stanley	258
#77	Cecil	256
#78	Theodore	252
#79	Harvey	251
#80	Edgar	249
#81	Luther	248
#82	Homer	239
#83	Norman	223
#84	Philip	223
#85	Bernard	222
#86	Patrick	221
#87	Kenneth	214
#88	Hugh	209
#89	Milton	207
#90	Guy	200
#91	Allen	191
#92	Jacob	189
#93	Leon	188
#94	Otis	185
#95	Everett	181
#96	Leslie	181
#97	Alexander	178
#98	Stephen	178
#99	Archie	177
#100	Victor	175