US baby names · 1903

Most popular baby names of 1903

In 1903, Social Security card applications recorded 261,970 girls and 119,230 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 2,083 distinct girls’ names and 1,306 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (14,275 girls) and John (7,608 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 20% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 33% of boys. Compared with 1902, 5,533 fewer babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1902, 3 girls’ names and 3 boys’ names in 1903 are newcomers (girls: Betty, Velma, Anne; boys: Oliver, Glenn, Roosevelt). Of these names, 20 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 1903 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1902 1904 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1903

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	14,275
#2	Helen	6,129
#3	Anna	5,098
#4	Margaret	5,045
#5	Ruth	4,517
#6	Elizabeth	3,724
#7	Marie	3,469
#8	Florence	3,468
#9	Ethel	3,257
#10	Mildred	3,088
#11	Dorothy	3,078
#12	Alice	2,996
#13	Lillian	2,972
#14	Gladys	2,674
#15	Edna	2,667
#16	Grace	2,616
#17	Annie	2,551
#18	Rose	2,478
#19	Frances	2,365
#20	Clara	2,342
#21	Bessie	2,339
#22	Bertha	2,309
#23	Emma	2,308
#24	Gertrude	2,253
#25	Mabel	2,163
#26	Hazel	2,139
#27	Pearl	2,046
#28	Irene	2,001
#29	Martha	1,980
#30	Myrtle	1,980
#31	Louise	1,935
#32	Catherine	1,916
#33	Edith	1,901
#34	Esther	1,883
#35	Minnie	1,846
#36	Eva	1,783
#37	Ida	1,774
#38	Elsie	1,720
#39	Agnes	1,616
#40	Josephine	1,587
#41	Sarah	1,553
#42	Ruby	1,538
#43	Laura	1,503
#44	Viola	1,495
#45	Nellie	1,491
#46	Lillie	1,485
#47	Thelma	1,479
#48	Julia	1,447
#49	Beatrice	1,439
#50	Ella	1,419
#51	Mattie	1,278
#52	Carrie	1,252
#53	Alma	1,244
#54	Evelyn	1,211
#55	Jessie	1,202
#56	Lena	1,200
#57	Lucille	1,193
#58	Mae	1,192
#59	Blanche	1,174
#60	Hattie	1,106
#61	Marion	1,042
#62	Pauline	1,042
#63	Virginia	1,032
#64	Fannie	1,016
#65	Stella	1,016
#66	Katherine	1,015
#67	Willie	1,014
#68	Lucy	990
#69	Mamie	990
#70	Cora	986
#71	Jennie	936
#72	Beulah	920
#73	Lula	913
#74	Rosa	911
#75	Vera	899
#76	Leona	881
#77	Bernice	868
#78	Ada	843
#79	Eleanor	840
#80	Maggie	780
#81	Dora	778
#82	Daisy	776
#83	Maude	776
#84	Ann	774
#85	Ellen	773
#86	Kathryn	729
#87	Nora	724
#88	Hilda	698
#89	Sadie	683
#90	Susie	680
#91	Marguerite	667
#92	Lois	664
#93	Violet	636
#94	Georgia	632
#95	Doris	629
#96	Della	611
#97	Olive	597
#98	Betty	596
#99	Velma	589
#100	Anne	581

Top 100 boys’ names, 1903

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	7,608
#2	William	6,311
#3	James	5,479
#4	George	3,961
#5	Charles	3,213
#6	Joseph	3,121
#7	Robert	3,044
#8	Frank	2,644
#9	Edward	2,268
#10	Thomas	1,962
#11	Henry	1,922
#12	Walter	1,840
#13	Harry	1,647
#14	Willie	1,454
#15	Arthur	1,435
#16	Albert	1,337
#17	Clarence	1,261
#18	Fred	1,204
#19	Paul	1,081
#20	Harold	1,065
#21	Raymond	1,051
#22	Roy	975
#23	Carl	910
#24	Joe	895
#25	Louis	889
#26	Richard	862
#27	Earl	837
#28	Jack	831
#29	Ralph	807
#30	Ernest	764
#31	Samuel	741
#32	Charlie	739
#33	David	716
#34	Herbert	668
#35	Francis	665
#36	Theodore	663
#37	Howard	636
#38	Leo	636
#39	Alfred	557
#40	Elmer	556
#41	Sam	552
#42	Andrew	550
#43	Lawrence	536
#44	Eugene	478
#45	Lee	477
#46	Floyd	472
#47	Michael	466
#48	Herman	449
#49	Leonard	448
#50	Daniel	432
#51	Oscar	427
#52	Clyde	413
#53	Lester	400
#54	Anthony	399
#55	Ray	397
#56	Russell	390
#57	Jesse	388
#58	Peter	372
#59	Stanley	361
#60	Donald	359
#61	Clifford	348
#62	Edwin	347
#63	Frederick	341
#64	Leroy	340
#65	Lewis	335
#66	Cecil	332
#67	Kenneth	330
#68	Chester	327
#69	Benjamin	324
#70	Eddie	314
#71	Claude	301
#72	Lloyd	299
#73	Tom	295
#74	Harvey	293
#75	Will	293
#76	Leon	287
#77	Martin	283
#78	Jessie	280
#79	Bernard	271
#80	Luther	265
#81	Ben	259
#82	Edgar	259
#83	Homer	257
#84	Jim	257
#85	Philip	250
#86	Norman	238
#87	Johnnie	237
#88	Melvin	230
#89	Leslie	227
#90	Alvin	222
#91	Allen	219
#92	Milton	210
#93	Oliver	210
#94	Patrick	210
#95	Everett	204
#96	Stephen	200
#97	Glenn	198
#98	Roosevelt	196
#99	Victor	196
#100	Alexander	195