US baby names · 1900

Most popular baby names of 1900

In 1900, Social Security card applications recorded 299,784 girls and 150,474 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 2,223 distinct girls’ names and 1,506 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (16,705 girls) and John (9,828 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 19% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 34% of boys. Compared with 1899, 111,025 more babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1899, 3 girls’ names and 5 boys’ names in 1900 are newcomers (girls: Bernice, Nancy, Betty; boys: Johnnie, Ed, Oliver). Of these names, 19 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 1900 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1899 1901 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1900

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	16,705
#2	Helen	6,342
#3	Anna	6,114
#4	Margaret	5,304
#5	Ruth	4,765
#6	Elizabeth	4,096
#7	Florence	3,920
#8	Ethel	3,896
#9	Marie	3,856
#10	Lillian	3,414
#11	Annie	3,324
#12	Edna	3,102
#13	Emma	3,095
#14	Alice	3,059
#15	Bessie	3,044
#16	Bertha	3,019
#17	Grace	2,942
#18	Rose	2,844
#19	Clara	2,826
#20	Mildred	2,800
#21	Gladys	2,733
#22	Minnie	2,673
#23	Gertrude	2,580
#24	Pearl	2,512
#25	Mabel	2,509
#26	Frances	2,495
#27	Dorothy	2,491
#28	Martha	2,437
#29	Hazel	2,425
#30	Ida	2,285
#31	Irene	2,264
#32	Myrtle	2,252
#33	Eva	2,089
#34	Catherine	2,081
#35	Louise	2,070
#36	Edith	2,068
#37	Sarah	2,054
#38	Elsie	2,045
#39	Esther	2,017
#40	Lillie	2,004
#41	Agnes	1,914
#42	Ella	1,911
#43	Nellie	1,850
#44	Mattie	1,834
#45	Laura	1,824
#46	Julia	1,766
#47	Josephine	1,743
#48	Carrie	1,711
#49	Viola	1,674
#50	Hattie	1,553
#51	Ruby	1,540
#52	Lena	1,506
#53	Jessie	1,422
#54	Mae	1,406
#55	Cora	1,389
#56	Beatrice	1,382
#57	Alma	1,372
#58	Willie	1,351
#59	Mamie	1,337
#60	Blanche	1,332
#61	Lucy	1,246
#62	Fannie	1,237
#63	Lula	1,237
#64	Jennie	1,204
#65	Katherine	1,201
#66	Marion	1,197
#67	Lucille	1,182
#68	Stella	1,177
#69	Rosa	1,118
#70	Evelyn	1,116
#71	Pauline	1,104
#72	Ada	1,101
#73	Thelma	1,094
#74	Virginia	1,068
#75	Maggie	1,045
#76	Vera	1,024
#77	Maude	1,013
#78	Beulah	974
#79	Dora	958
#80	Susie	947
#81	Daisy	931
#82	Ellen	922
#83	Nora	919
#84	Sadie	895
#85	Leona	825
#86	Marguerite	786
#87	Georgia	765
#88	Eleanor	753
#89	Effie	752
#90	Della	748
#91	May	744
#92	Ann	736
#93	Kathryn	721
#94	Nettie	711
#95	Olive	705
#96	Bernice	702
#97	Lottie	690
#98	Sallie	676
#99	Nancy	673
#100	Betty	665

Top 100 boys’ names, 1900

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	9,828
#2	William	8,579
#3	James	7,245
#4	George	5,403
#5	Charles	4,098
#6	Robert	3,821
#7	Joseph	3,714
#8	Frank	3,477
#9	Edward	2,720
#10	Henry	2,606
#11	Thomas	2,556
#12	Walter	2,298
#13	Harry	2,272
#14	Willie	2,113
#15	Arthur	1,853
#16	Albert	1,741
#17	Fred	1,646
#18	Clarence	1,483
#19	Paul	1,288
#20	Harold	1,245
#21	Roy	1,215
#22	Joe	1,179
#23	Raymond	1,150
#24	Richard	1,141
#25	Charlie	1,124
#26	Louis	1,097
#27	Jack	1,053
#28	Earl	1,037
#29	Carl	1,016
#30	Ernest	1,012
#31	Ralph	896
#32	David	883
#33	Samuel	877
#34	Sam	821
#35	Howard	779
#36	Herbert	751
#37	Andrew	718
#38	Elmer	699
#39	Lee	675
#40	Lawrence	659
#41	Francis	652
#42	Alfred	640
#43	Will	603
#44	Daniel	598
#45	Eugene	587
#46	Leo	570
#47	Oscar	563
#48	Floyd	555
#49	Herman	550
#50	Jesse	536
#51	Michael	495
#52	Lewis	469
#53	Tom	469
#54	Leonard	465
#55	Ray	457
#56	Clyde	451
#57	Benjamin	450
#58	Peter	443
#59	Claude	433
#60	Lester	431
#61	Theodore	429
#62	Russell	427
#63	Eddie	425
#64	Frederick	420
#65	Leroy	419
#66	Clifford	409
#67	Anthony	406
#68	Jim	399
#69	Jessie	398
#70	Martin	383
#71	Edgar	374
#72	Chester	364
#73	Ben	355
#74	Edwin	350
#75	Dewey	345
#76	Cecil	344
#77	Stanley	342
#78	Lloyd	337
#79	Donald	328
#80	Homer	326
#81	Harvey	322
#82	Luther	316
#83	Norman	316
#84	Johnnie	313
#85	Leon	310
#86	Bernard	308
#87	Ed	297
#88	Hugh	290
#89	Patrick	285
#90	Kenneth	279
#91	Leslie	275
#92	Victor	269
#93	Alexander	260
#94	Philip	259
#95	Oliver	256
#96	Mack	250
#97	Horace	244
#98	Milton	242
#99	Guy	240
#100	Everett	237