Most Popular Baby Names of 1881

In 1881, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 6,919 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,768. Mary held on to number one for a second year in a row, and John held on to number one for a second year in a row.

Social Security counted 91,953 girls and 100,735 boys born in 1881 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 938 different girls' names and 996 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1881

Top girls' names, 1881
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1880
1	Mary	6,919	same
2	Anna	2,698	same
3	Emma	2,034	same
4	Elizabeth	1,852	same
5	Margaret	1,658	up 1
6	Minnie	1,653	down 1
7	Ida	1,439	same
8	Annie	1,326	up 3
9	Bertha	1,324	same
10	Alice	1,308	down 2
11	Clara	1,242	up 1
12	Sarah	1,226	down 2
13	Ella	1,148	same
14	Nellie	1,096	up 4
15	Grace	1,089	up 4
16	Florence	1,046	down 2
17	Martha	1,044	down 1
18	Cora	969	down 3
19	Laura	962	down 2
20	Carrie	958	same
21	Maude	923	same
22	Bessie	903	up 1
23	Mabel	893	down 1
24	Gertrude	791	up 1
25	Ethel	788	up 13
26	Jennie	784	down 2
27	Edith	778	up 1
28	Hattie	775	down 1
29	Mattie	754	same
30	Julia	737	down 4
31	Rose	734	down 1
32	Lillian	723	same
33	Lillie	678	up 1
34	Eva	661	up 7
35	Jessie	661	up 1
36	Lula	655	up 3
37	Myrtle	643	up 3
38	Pearl	641	up 9
39	Edna	637	up 6
40	Catherine	635	down 9
41	Ada	628	down 8
42	Louise	617	down 5
43	Helen	612	down 8
44	Lucy	611	same
45	Frances	586	down 3
46	Dora	585	up 5
47	Fannie	565	up 2
48	Josephine	563	up 2
49	Daisy	562	down 1
50	Lena	555	down 7
51	Maggie	532	down 5
52	Katherine	504	up 1
53	Rosa	500	down 1
54	Marie	499	up 1
55	Nora	498	up 1
56	Effie	463	up 7
57	Blanche	456	up 2
58	May	451	down 1
59	Nancy	429	up 3
60	Della	428	up 6
61	Agnes	424	down 7
62	Nettie	419	up 3
63	Sallie	416	up 1
64	Stella	416	down 4
65	Ellen	413	down 4
66	Mamie	412	down 8
67	Lizzie	396	same
68	Susie	367	up 1
69	Sadie	366	up 5
70	Elsie	344	up 8
71	Maud	328	down 1
72	Flora	317	down 4
73	Caroline	316	up 2
74	Etta	316	down 2
75	Mae	314	down 4
76	Lulu	313	up 10
77	Lydia	299	same
78	Alma	293	up 4
79	Susan	292	up 1
80	Lottie	289	up 8
81	Addie	287	up 2
82	Mollie	281	down 1
83	Katie	279	down 7
84	Ruth	275	up 9
85	Harriet	270	down 12
86	Kate	267	down 7
87	Amanda	263	up 2
88	Nannie	258	down 1
89	Georgia	256	down 5
90	Emily	244	up 10
91	Eliza	238	down 6
92	Viola	237	up 2
93	Amelia	235	up 3
94	Willie	229	up 11
95	Charlotte	227	down 4
96	Rebecca	226	down 4
97	Belle	219	down 7
98	Kathryn	218	up 5
99	Jane	216	down 1
100	Olive	211	down 5

Top boys' names, 1881
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1880
1	John	8,768	same
2	William	8,524	same
3	James	5,441	same
4	George	4,664	up 1
5	Charles	4,636	down 1
6	Frank	2,834	same
7	Joseph	2,456	same
8	Henry	2,339	up 1
9	Thomas	2,282	down 1
10	Edward	2,177	up 1
11	Robert	2,140	down 1
12	Harry	2,002	same
13	Walter	1,670	same
14	Arthur	1,575	same
15	Fred	1,418	same
16	Albert	1,319	same
17	Samuel	919	same
18	David	750	same
19	Louis	746	same
20	Charlie	668	up 1
21	Clarence	668	up 1
22	Richard	641	up 1
23	Joe	639	down 3
24	Andrew	588	same
25	Ernest	571	up 1
26	Will	550	up 1
27	Jesse	536	up 1
28	Oscar	530	up 1
29	Daniel	527	down 4
30	Willie	498	up 4
31	Benjamin	481	up 1
32	Sam	481	up 4
33	Alfred	466	up 2
34	Roy	440	up 3
35	Lewis	439	down 5
36	Frederick	433	down 3
37	Peter	428	down 6
38	Elmer	388	up 3
39	Jacob	381	same
40	Herbert	369	down 2
41	Carl	359	up 1
42	Howard	359	up 2
43	Tom	349	down 3
44	Lee	342	down 1
45	Ralph	329	up 9
46	Martin	327	down 1
47	Jim	323	up 2
48	Earl	314	up 4
49	Eugene	314	up 4
50	Bert	312	down 3
51	Edgar	312	up 10
52	Herman	304	down 4
53	Claude	302	up 3
54	Michael	298	down 8
55	Paul	291	up 5
56	Ben	289	up 2
57	Ira	286	up 9
58	Harvey	282	down 7
59	Chester	274	up 26
60	Edwin	274	down 3
61	Ed	272	down 6
62	Charley	266	down 3
63	Francis	259	down 13
64	Isaac	258	down 2
65	Luther	249	down 1
66	Lawrence	244	down 1
67	Oliver	238	up 2
68	Clyde	232	up 4
69	Otto	221	down 6
70	Hugh	219	up 1
71	Alexander	209	up 2
72	Leonard	206	up 6
73	Jack	197	up 4
74	Raymond	195	up 13
75	Patrick	188	down 8
76	Guy	186	down 8
77	Homer	181	down 1
78	Floyd	178	down 3
79	Theodore	178	down 9
80	Allen	172	up 2
81	August	172	down 7
82	Marion	162	down 2
83	Philip	156	down 2
84	Warren	156	up 5
85	Horace	152	down 6
86	Dan	148	up 12
87	Ray	148	up 8
88	Garfield	147	up 23
89	Stephen	147	down 5
90	Emil	145	up 23
91	Jessie	143	down 1
92	Milton	143	down 1
93	Willis	142	down 7
94	Calvin	138	up 6
95	Dave	135	up 7
96	Bernard	130	up 1
97	Julius	129	down 3
98	Leroy	129	up 10
99	Sidney	129	down 3
100	Anthony	128	up 3

Biggest climbers in 1881

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1880.

Girls

Isa: up 464 places, from 875th to 411th
Opal: up 445 places, from 912th to 467th
Natalie: up 411 places, from 908th to 497th
Wilma: up 362 places, from 942nd to 580th
Lauretta: up 356 places, from 796th to 440th
Tressie: up 339 places, from 828th to 489th
Judith: up 321 places, from 882nd to 561st
Joe: up 320 places, from 879th to 559th
Arvilla: up 313 places, from 748th to 435th
Sibyl: up 309 places, from 929th to 620th

Boys

Noble: up 561 places, from 882nd to 321st
Ivy: up 516 places, from 987th to 471st
Buck: up 467 places, from 933rd to 466th
Chin: up 398 places, from 938th to 540th
Bradley: up 364 places, from 931st to 567th
Artie: up 352 places, from 916th to 564th
Edith: up 332 places, from 947th to 615th
Curt: up 328 places, from 838th to 510th
Avery: up 319 places, from 643rd to 324th
Kelly: up 319 places, from 995th to 676th

New to the top 1,000 in 1881

Girls

Adell, 447th (its first time ever)
Celeste, 449th (its first time ever)
Audrey, 511th (its first time ever)
Lonie, 524th (its first time ever)
Zadie, 538th (its first time ever)
Aura, 542nd (its first time ever)
Elta, 550th (its first time ever)
Eveline, 553rd (its first time ever)
Lelah, 562nd (its first time ever)
Nanie, 573rd (its first time ever)

Boys

Brown, 465th (its first time ever)
Newell, 479th (its first time ever)
Carter, 506th (its first time ever)
Lucas, 550th (its first time ever)
Ransom, 558th (its first time ever)
Bee, 565th (its first time ever)
Meyer, 578th (its first time ever)
Paris, 581st (its first time ever)
Byrd, 605th (its first time ever)
Deforest, 610th (its first time ever)

How spread out were names in 1881?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 24.2% of the girls counted in 1881, and the top ten boys' names to 43.8% of the boys. In 2025, those shares were 7% for girls and 8% for boys.

Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.