US baby names · 1909

Most popular baby names of 1909

In 1909, Social Security card applications recorded 347,228 girls and 163,996 boys born in the US under names given to at least five babies of the same sex. That covers 2,548 distinct girls’ names and 1,679 boys’ names.

The most common names were Mary (19,259 girls) and John (9,590 boys). The ten most common girls’ names together account for 21% of recorded girls, and the top ten boys’ names for 31% of boys. Compared with 1908, 22,576 more babies were recorded in total.

Against the top 100 of 1908, 3 girls’ names and 1 boys’ names in 1909 are newcomers (girls: Sylvia, Genevieve, Hilda; boys: Otis). Of these names, 18 of the 100 girls’ names and 20 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 1909 favourite was rising, at its peak or already fading.

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

← 1908 1910 →

Top 100 girls’ names, 1909

Rank	Name	Girls
#1	Mary	19,259
#2	Helen	9,250
#3	Margaret	7,358
#4	Ruth	6,509
#5	Dorothy	6,253
#6	Anna	5,804
#7	Elizabeth	5,176
#8	Mildred	5,054
#9	Marie	4,301
#10	Alice	4,170
#11	Florence	3,789
#12	Frances	3,780
#13	Ethel	3,661
#14	Lillian	3,596
#15	Gladys	3,538
#16	Edna	3,429
#17	Rose	3,374
#18	Evelyn	3,157
#19	Louise	3,019
#20	Irene	2,961
#21	Grace	2,912
#22	Annie	2,904
#23	Catherine	2,897
#24	Hazel	2,708
#25	Gertrude	2,622
#26	Thelma	2,612
#27	Ruby	2,524
#28	Martha	2,510
#29	Bertha	2,444
#30	Virginia	2,420
#31	Josephine	2,416
#32	Clara	2,403
#33	Edith	2,371
#34	Emma	2,338
#35	Bessie	2,276
#36	Lucille	2,192
#37	Esther	2,185
#38	Beatrice	2,105
#39	Elsie	2,064
#40	Pearl	2,048
#41	Mabel	2,007
#42	Agnes	1,974
#43	Myrtle	1,950
#44	Ida	1,943
#45	Julia	1,931
#46	Viola	1,926
#47	Eva	1,896
#48	Pauline	1,896
#49	Sarah	1,845
#50	Minnie	1,779
#51	Nellie	1,768
#52	Lillie	1,635
#53	Katherine	1,557
#54	Willie	1,549
#55	Laura	1,524
#56	Ann	1,477
#57	Eleanor	1,460
#58	Marion	1,445
#59	Mattie	1,407
#60	Ella	1,382
#61	Alma	1,375
#62	Bernice	1,337
#63	Jessie	1,321
#64	Doris	1,298
#65	Lena	1,295
#66	Carrie	1,276
#67	Vera	1,242
#68	Mae	1,230
#69	Blanche	1,217
#70	Stella	1,188
#71	Lucy	1,175
#72	Leona	1,167
#73	Lois	1,157
#74	Kathryn	1,138
#75	Hattie	1,134
#76	Anne	1,110
#77	Betty	1,082
#78	Marjorie	1,082
#79	Fannie	1,071
#80	Beulah	1,052
#81	Marguerite	1,036
#82	Opal	1,028
#83	Jennie	998
#84	Mamie	974
#85	Cora	969
#86	Ellen	960
#87	Rosa	959
#88	Ada	945
#89	Violet	945
#90	Jean	940
#91	Lula	922
#92	Velma	857
#93	Sylvia	847
#94	Charlotte	841
#95	Dora	829
#96	Inez	826
#97	Georgia	813
#98	Maggie	794
#99	Genevieve	785
#100	Hilda	773

Top 100 boys’ names, 1909

Rank	Name	Boys
#1	John	9,590
#2	William	7,913
#3	James	7,595
#4	George	4,688
#5	Robert	4,563
#6	Joseph	4,348
#7	Charles	4,029
#8	Frank	3,244
#9	Edward	2,935
#10	Thomas	2,468
#11	Henry	2,411
#12	Walter	2,287
#13	Willie	2,175
#14	Harry	1,924
#15	Albert	1,816
#16	Harold	1,725
#17	Paul	1,676
#18	Arthur	1,665
#19	Clarence	1,518
#20	Raymond	1,441
#21	Richard	1,427
#22	Fred	1,355
#23	Joe	1,292
#24	Louis	1,231
#25	Carl	1,215
#26	Howard	1,166
#27	Jack	1,150
#28	Roy	1,135
#29	David	1,094
#30	Ralph	1,091
#31	Earl	1,007
#32	Samuel	983
#33	Francis	886
#34	Ernest	885
#35	Lawrence	854
#36	Charlie	833
#37	Herbert	831
#38	Andrew	766
#39	Alfred	763
#40	Anthony	758
#41	Kenneth	746
#42	Donald	725
#43	Eugene	724
#44	Sam	700
#45	Elmer	687
#46	Leonard	665
#47	Michael	635
#48	Herman	618
#49	Leo	609
#50	Stanley	607
#51	Theodore	595
#52	Lee	584
#53	Floyd	570
#54	Daniel	569
#55	Leroy	568
#56	Peter	539
#57	Clifford	536
#58	Russell	528
#59	Jesse	517
#60	Clyde	516
#61	Lester	501
#62	Edwin	492
#63	Benjamin	489
#64	Frederick	477
#65	Lewis	477
#66	Chester	475
#67	Ray	475
#68	Bernard	463
#69	Eddie	462
#70	Oscar	459
#71	Melvin	448
#72	Cecil	432
#73	Jessie	432
#74	Claude	419
#75	Norman	415
#76	Lloyd	412
#77	Johnnie	401
#78	Philip	395
#79	Martin	391
#80	Leon	377
#81	Milton	369
#82	Alvin	363
#83	Harvey	361
#84	Ben	358
#85	Marvin	354
#86	Edgar	347
#87	Luther	347
#88	Tom	340
#89	Victor	320
#90	Everett	314
#91	Stephen	314
#92	Homer	313
#93	Allen	312
#94	Morris	305
#95	Gerald	301
#96	Leslie	292
#97	Vernon	284
#98	Julius	269
#99	Otis	267
#100	Will	267