Most Popular Baby Names of 1883

In 1883, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 8,012 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,894. Mary held on to number one for a fourth year in a row, and John held on to number one for a fourth year in a row.

Social Security counted 112,320 girls and 104,625 boys born in 1883 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,054 different girls' names and 1,030 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1883

Top girls' names, 1883
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1882
1	Mary	8,012	same
2	Anna	3,306	same
3	Emma	2,367	same
4	Elizabeth	2,255	same
5	Minnie	2,035	same
6	Margaret	1,881	same
7	Bertha	1,681	up 2
8	Ida	1,634	down 1
9	Annie	1,589	up 1
10	Clara	1,548	up 1
11	Alice	1,488	down 3
12	Sarah	1,359	same
13	Grace	1,307	up 3
14	Florence	1,298	down 1
15	Martha	1,255	down 1
16	Ella	1,251	down 1
17	Nellie	1,246	up 2
18	Bessie	1,241	same
19	Laura	1,183	down 2
20	Ethel	1,132	up 4
21	Carrie	1,108	up 1
22	Maude	1,096	down 2
23	Mabel	1,086	same
24	Cora	1,081	down 3
25	Gertrude	923	up 1
26	Lillian	907	up 6
27	Jennie	904	same
28	Hattie	895	up 2
29	Pearl	886	up 4
30	Mattie	883	down 5
31	Edith	881	down 2
32	Eva	879	up 9
33	Rose	877	down 5
34	Julia	875	up 1
35	Helen	862	down 4
36	Catherine	853	up 6
37	Myrtle	851	up 1
38	Louise	847	down 4
39	Lillie	837	down 3
40	Jessie	834	down 3
41	Edna	823	down 2
42	Lena	800	up 1
43	Lula	790	down 3
44	Ada	778	same
45	Frances	710	same
46	Josephine	697	up 3
47	Fannie	696	same
48	Lucy	663	down 2
49	Maggie	663	up 1
50	Daisy	659	down 2
51	Dora	640	same
52	Agnes	623	up 2
53	Marie	622	same
54	Blanche	610	up 2
55	Nora	589	up 3
56	Katherine	583	down 4
57	May	532	up 2
58	Mamie	531	up 2
59	Stella	529	up 2
60	Effie	507	down 5
61	Rosa	507	down 4
62	Ellen	500	up 2
63	Lizzie	496	down 1
64	Nettie	494	up 4
65	Elsie	479	same
66	Della	453	same
67	Susie	436	up 3
68	Maud	425	up 1
69	Sadie	425	up 3
70	Mae	423	up 1
71	Nancy	412	down 4
72	Sallie	409	down 9
73	Flora	387	same
74	Ruth	387	up 6
75	Lydia	378	up 1
76	Lottie	372	up 6
77	Addie	362	same
78	Katie	361	same
79	Alma	359	down 5
80	Etta	352	down 5
81	Emily	342	up 14
82	Harriet	341	up 8
83	Viola	331	same
84	Georgia	325	down 3
85	Susan	322	down 6
86	Caroline	321	down 1
87	Nannie	305	down 1
88	Lulu	302	up 5
89	Mollie	301	down 5
90	Kate	294	down 3
91	Olive	294	down 3
92	Charlotte	291	up 8
93	Kathryn	290	up 3
94	Amanda	287	down 3
95	Eliza	274	down 3
96	Willie	264	down 7
97	Amelia	262	up 5
98	Belle	262	same
99	Esther	260	down 2
100	Irene	260	up 4

Top boys' names, 1883
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1882
1	John	8,894	same
2	William	8,387	same
3	James	5,223	same
4	Charles	4,826	up 1
5	George	4,736	down 1
6	Frank	2,986	same
7	Joseph	2,515	same
8	Henry	2,383	up 1
9	Robert	2,334	up 1
10	Thomas	2,316	down 2
11	Edward	2,250	same
12	Harry	2,110	same
13	Walter	1,705	same
14	Arthur	1,591	same
15	Fred	1,502	same
16	Albert	1,496	same
17	Samuel	937	same
18	Clarence	837	up 2
19	Louis	796	down 1
20	David	734	down 1
21	Richard	649	up 1
22	Charlie	643	down 1
23	Ernest	641	up 4
24	Andrew	623	same
25	Daniel	615	up 4
26	Joe	607	down 3
27	Oscar	607	up 1
28	Jesse	584	down 2
29	Will	576	down 4
30	Roy	556	up 3
31	Benjamin	508	up 3
32	Carl	480	up 3
33	Sam	476	down 3
34	Willie	474	down 3
35	Alfred	457	down 3
36	Peter	450	same
37	Frederick	438	same
38	Lewis	431	up 1
39	Howard	429	up 3
40	Elmer	423	down 2
41	Herbert	422	down 1
42	Earl	389	up 7
43	Lee	388	down 2
44	Tom	386	up 3
45	Ralph	385	down 2
46	Martin	377	up 2
47	Herman	359	up 4
48	Paul	358	down 4
49	Jacob	356	down 3
50	Clyde	336	up 12
51	Eugene	325	up 2
52	Jim	322	down 7
53	Harvey	318	up 8
54	Claude	315	down 4
55	Michael	307	up 2
56	Ben	306	down 1
57	Edwin	299	up 2
58	Edgar	292	same
59	Chester	290	up 1
60	Francis	285	down 4
61	Lawrence	282	up 2
62	Bert	273	down 10
63	Charley	254	up 4
64	Ed	247	down 10
65	Jack	242	up 1
66	Otto	240	up 3
67	Ira	239	up 4
68	Raymond	233	up 10
69	Luther	229	down 5
70	Isaac	227	down 5
71	Guy	224	down 3
72	Oliver	219	same
73	Floyd	217	up 3
74	Hugh	215	down 1
75	Patrick	213	down 5
76	Homer	210	up 9
77	August	209	down 3
78	Ray	202	up 5
79	Leonard	200	down 2
80	Alexander	187	down 1
81	Theodore	185	down 6
82	Allen	175	down 2
83	Horace	167	up 5
84	Archie	166	down 2
85	Philip	166	up 2
86	Sidney	165	up 14
87	Marion	163	up 6
88	Julius	160	up 3
89	Jessie	151	down 5
90	Milton	149	up 5
91	Warren	146	down 5
92	Anthony	143	up 13
93	Everett	143	up 14
94	Leroy	143	up 2
95	Leo	142	up 4
96	Bernard	141	up 7
97	Leon	140	up 17
98	Stephen	140	down 17
99	Emil	139	down 7
100	Clifford	138	down 6

Biggest climbers in 1883

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1882.

Girls

Paula: up 433 places, from 880th to 447th
Cathryn: up 407 places, from 931st to 524th
Malissa: up 400 places, from 784th to 384th
Fredericka: up 390 places, from 957th to 567th
Maye: up 389 places, from 993rd to 604th
Joseph: up 383 places, from 854th to 471st
Hope: up 381 places, from 851st to 470th
Leatha: up 379 places, from 978th to 599th
Annis: up 375 places, from 916th to 541st
Lular: up 351 places, from 987th to 636th

Boys

Jarvis: up 388 places, from 893rd to 505th
Everette: up 386 places, from 872nd to 486th
Alf: up 381 places, from 841st to 460th
Rolland: up 373 places, from 819th to 446th
Arlie: up 363 places, from 845th to 482nd
Rollin: up 343 places, from 820th to 477th
Mont: up 337 places, from 810th to 473rd
Oran: up 334 places, from 916th to 582nd
Fleming: up 329 places, from 990th to 661st
Ernst: up 326 places, from 779th to 453rd

New to the top 1,000 in 1883

Girls

Luna, 474th (back after dropping out)
Albertine, 518th (back after dropping out)
Lonie, 532nd (back after dropping out)
Selina, 534th (back after dropping out)
Sina, 535th (back after dropping out)
Byrd, 562nd (back after dropping out)
Laurel, 571st (its first time ever)
Margarette, 602nd (back after dropping out)
Theodora, 610th (back after dropping out)
Lelar, 633rd (its first time ever)

Boys

Anna, 448th (back after dropping out)
Sumner, 553rd (back after dropping out)
Carter, 561st (back after dropping out)
Buford, 603rd (back after dropping out)
Godfrey, 613th (back after dropping out)
Harper, 614th (back after dropping out)
Hollie, 616th (back after dropping out)
Jonah, 618th (back after dropping out)
Linwood, 620th (back after dropping out)
Newell, 626th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1883?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 23.4% of the girls counted in 1883, and the top ten boys' names to 42.6% 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.