Most Popular Baby Names of 1882

In 1882, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 8,148 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 9,557. Mary held on to number one for a third year in a row, and John held on to number one for a third year in a row.

Social Security counted 107,847 girls and 113,686 boys born in 1882 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,028 different girls' names and 1,099 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1882

Top girls' names, 1882
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1881
1	Mary	8,148	same
2	Anna	3,143	same
3	Emma	2,303	same
4	Elizabeth	2,186	same
5	Minnie	2,004	up 1
6	Margaret	1,821	down 1
7	Ida	1,673	same
8	Alice	1,542	up 2
9	Bertha	1,508	same
10	Annie	1,492	down 2
11	Clara	1,490	same
12	Sarah	1,410	same
13	Florence	1,322	up 3
14	Martha	1,229	up 3
15	Ella	1,206	down 2
16	Grace	1,195	down 1
17	Laura	1,151	up 2
18	Bessie	1,144	up 4
19	Nellie	1,138	down 5
20	Maude	1,089	up 1
21	Cora	1,076	down 3
22	Carrie	1,037	down 2
23	Mabel	997	same
24	Ethel	989	up 1
25	Mattie	966	up 4
26	Gertrude	939	down 2
27	Jennie	934	down 1
28	Rose	886	up 3
29	Edith	876	down 2
30	Hattie	859	down 2
31	Helen	838	up 12
32	Lillian	830	same
33	Pearl	824	up 5
34	Louise	813	up 8
35	Julia	811	down 5
36	Lillie	810	down 3
37	Jessie	806	down 2
38	Myrtle	803	down 1
39	Edna	783	same
40	Lula	780	down 4
41	Eva	765	down 7
42	Catherine	726	down 2
43	Lena	697	up 7
44	Ada	689	down 3
45	Frances	681	same
46	Lucy	673	down 2
47	Fannie	650	same
48	Daisy	648	up 1
49	Josephine	638	down 1
50	Maggie	627	up 1
51	Dora	594	down 5
52	Katherine	591	same
53	Marie	591	up 1
54	Agnes	565	up 7
55	Effie	561	up 1
56	Blanche	547	up 1
57	Rosa	542	down 4
58	Nora	539	down 3
59	May	510	down 1
60	Mamie	508	up 6
61	Stella	506	up 3
62	Lizzie	495	up 5
63	Sallie	487	same
64	Ellen	452	up 1
65	Elsie	448	up 5
66	Della	447	down 6
67	Nancy	439	down 8
68	Nettie	439	down 6
69	Maud	432	up 2
70	Susie	412	down 2
71	Mae	406	up 4
72	Sadie	391	down 3
73	Flora	380	down 1
74	Alma	368	up 4
75	Etta	352	down 1
76	Lydia	342	up 1
77	Addie	341	up 4
78	Katie	327	up 5
79	Susan	326	same
80	Ruth	323	up 4
81	Georgia	320	up 8
82	Lottie	319	down 2
83	Viola	310	up 9
84	Mollie	305	down 2
85	Caroline	304	down 12
86	Nannie	299	up 2
87	Kate	293	down 1
88	Olive	291	up 12
89	Willie	291	up 5
90	Harriet	289	down 5
91	Amanda	288	down 4
92	Eliza	280	down 1
93	Lulu	279	down 17
94	Virginia	274	up 7
95	Emily	272	down 5
96	Kathryn	272	up 2
97	Esther	266	up 8
98	Belle	264	down 1
99	Rebecca	259	down 3
100	Charlotte	257	down 5

Top boys' names, 1882
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1881
1	John	9,557	same
2	William	9,298	same
3	James	5,892	same
4	George	5,193	same
5	Charles	5,091	same
6	Frank	3,176	same
7	Joseph	2,670	same
8	Thomas	2,610	up 1
9	Henry	2,579	down 1
10	Robert	2,500	up 1
11	Edward	2,477	down 1
12	Harry	2,232	same
13	Walter	1,805	same
14	Arthur	1,686	same
15	Fred	1,641	same
16	Albert	1,499	same
17	Samuel	1,003	same
18	Louis	852	up 1
19	David	838	down 1
20	Clarence	837	up 1
21	Charlie	753	down 1
22	Richard	746	same
23	Joe	739	same
24	Andrew	673	same
25	Will	666	up 1
26	Jesse	660	up 1
27	Ernest	642	down 2
28	Oscar	625	same
29	Daniel	594	same
30	Sam	555	up 2
31	Willie	541	down 1
32	Alfred	523	up 1
33	Roy	521	up 1
34	Benjamin	478	down 3
35	Carl	478	up 6
36	Peter	461	up 1
37	Frederick	457	down 1
38	Elmer	441	same
39	Lewis	441	down 4
40	Herbert	431	same
41	Lee	427	up 3
42	Howard	422	same
43	Ralph	407	up 2
44	Paul	397	up 11
45	Jim	396	up 2
46	Jacob	390	down 7
47	Tom	390	down 4
48	Martin	387	down 2
49	Earl	377	down 1
50	Claude	356	up 3
51	Herman	348	up 1
52	Bert	341	down 2
53	Eugene	341	down 4
54	Ed	337	up 7
55	Ben	334	up 1
56	Francis	327	up 7
57	Michael	321	down 3
58	Edgar	308	down 7
59	Edwin	305	up 1
60	Chester	300	down 1
61	Harvey	300	down 3
62	Clyde	293	up 6
63	Lawrence	287	up 3
64	Luther	284	up 1
65	Isaac	278	down 1
66	Jack	271	up 7
67	Charley	262	down 5
68	Guy	253	up 8
69	Otto	252	same
70	Patrick	249	up 5
71	Ira	244	down 14
72	Oliver	244	down 5
73	Hugh	239	down 3
74	August	234	up 7
75	Theodore	232	up 4
76	Floyd	231	up 2
77	Leonard	231	down 5
78	Raymond	230	down 4
79	Alexander	225	down 8
80	Allen	206	same
81	Stephen	201	up 8
82	Archie	195	up 19
83	Ray	195	up 4
84	Jessie	192	up 7
85	Homer	190	down 8
86	Warren	183	down 2
87	Philip	182	down 4
88	Horace	176	down 3
89	Alex	172	up 20
90	Eddie	169	up 24
91	Julius	168	up 6
92	Emil	157	down 2
93	Marion	157	down 11
94	Clifford	155	up 18
95	Milton	155	down 3
96	Leroy	152	up 2
97	Dan	150	down 11
98	Rufus	147	up 7
99	Leo	146	up 4
100	Sidney	146	down 1

Biggest climbers in 1882

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1881.

Girls

Lissie: up 399 places, from 897th to 498th
Clementine: up 389 places, from 752nd to 363rd
Lonnie: up 381 places, from 901st to 520th
Hedwig: up 330 places, from 874th to 544th
Erna: up 324 places, from 863rd to 539th
Luvenia: up 306 places, from 791st to 485th
Josiephine: up 301 places, from 884th to 583rd
Vena: up 294 places, from 823rd to 529th
Marinda: up 286 places, from 908th to 622nd
Nevada: up 285 places, from 726th to 441st

Boys

Webster: up 537 places, from 989th to 452nd
Clarance: up 489 places, from 890th to 401st
Okey: up 440 places, from 971st to 531st
Lincoln: up 426 places, from 954th to 528th
Neil: up 419 places, from 840th to 421st
Troy: up 392 places, from 859th to 467th
Elmore: up 385 places, from 908th to 523rd
Cliff: up 372 places, from 892nd to 520th
Garnett: up 366 places, from 923rd to 557th
Wilton: up 343 places, from 993rd to 650th

New to the top 1,000 in 1882

Girls

Harry, 496th (back after dropping out)
Verda, 504th (its first time ever)
Clarissa, 513th (back after dropping out)
Evalyn, 518th (back after dropping out)
Gena, 542nd (back after dropping out)
Arie, 566th (back after dropping out)
Irena, 580th (back after dropping out)
Attie, 598th (its first time ever)
Bulah, 600th (back after dropping out)
Dellar, 604th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Saul, 486th (back after dropping out)
Cleve, 519th (its first time ever)
Butler, 545th (back after dropping out)
Dora, 549th (back after dropping out)
Ernie, 552nd (back after dropping out)
Rubin, 572nd (back after dropping out)
Bernie, 579th (back after dropping out)
Manley, 595th (back after dropping out)
Volney, 608th (back after dropping out)
Ephriam, 618th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1882?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 23.9% of the girls counted in 1882, and the top ten boys' names to 42.7% 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.