Most Popular Baby Names of 1884

In 1884, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 9,217 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 9,388. Mary held on to number one for a fifth year in a row, and John held on to number one for a fifth year in a row.

Social Security counted 129,019 girls and 114,441 boys born in 1884 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,172 different girls' names and 1,125 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1884

Top girls' names, 1884
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1883
1	Mary	9,217	same
2	Anna	3,860	same
3	Emma	2,587	same
4	Elizabeth	2,549	same
5	Minnie	2,243	same
6	Margaret	2,142	same
7	Ida	1,882	up 1
8	Clara	1,852	up 2
9	Bertha	1,789	down 2
10	Annie	1,739	down 1
11	Alice	1,732	same
12	Florence	1,570	up 2
13	Grace	1,525	same
14	Sarah	1,518	down 2
15	Bessie	1,451	up 3
16	Martha	1,443	down 1
17	Nellie	1,417	same
18	Ethel	1,386	up 2
19	Ella	1,374	down 3
20	Mabel	1,270	up 3
21	Laura	1,246	down 2
22	Carrie	1,245	down 1
23	Cora	1,244	up 1
24	Maude	1,225	down 2
25	Pearl	1,138	up 4
26	Lillian	1,109	same
27	Edith	1,104	up 4
28	Gertrude	1,063	down 3
29	Jennie	1,063	down 2
30	Rose	1,060	up 3
31	Mattie	1,007	down 1
32	Hattie	993	down 4
33	Helen	986	up 2
34	Myrtle	979	up 3
35	Louise	962	up 3
36	Edna	957	up 5
37	Julia	935	down 3
38	Eva	929	down 6
39	Lula	916	up 4
40	Lillie	911	down 1
41	Lena	906	up 1
42	Jessie	888	down 2
43	Catherine	874	down 7
44	Ada	854	same
45	Josephine	800	up 1
46	Frances	789	down 1
47	Lucy	787	up 1
48	Maggie	749	up 1
49	Marie	746	up 4
50	Fannie	738	down 3
51	Dora	720	same
52	Blanche	711	up 2
53	Agnes	703	down 1
54	Daisy	685	down 4
55	Katherine	671	up 1
56	Nora	648	down 1
57	Mamie	609	up 1
58	Rosa	607	up 3
59	Ellen	597	up 3
60	Stella	584	down 1
61	May	564	down 4
62	Effie	558	down 2
63	Elsie	549	up 2
64	Mae	542	up 6
65	Della	541	up 1
66	Lizzie	523	down 3
67	Nettie	522	down 3
68	Nancy	520	up 3
69	Sallie	494	up 3
70	Alma	480	up 9
71	Sadie	466	down 2
72	Maud	461	down 4
73	Susie	455	down 6
74	Ruth	442	same
75	Etta	423	up 5
76	Lottie	397	same
77	Flora	393	down 4
78	Caroline	380	up 8
79	Mollie	374	up 10
80	Lydia	369	down 5
81	Emily	364	same
82	Viola	362	up 1
83	Katie	360	down 5
84	Olive	360	up 7
85	Addie	356	down 8
86	Charlotte	344	up 6
87	Kate	344	up 3
88	Kathryn	344	up 5
89	Lulu	344	down 1
90	Georgia	341	down 6
91	Harriet	339	down 9
92	Amanda	337	up 2
93	Willie	332	up 3
94	Susan	326	down 9
95	Irene	324	up 5
96	Amelia	315	up 1
97	Nannie	314	down 10
98	Jane	295	up 4
99	Esther	291	same
100	Belle	286	down 2

Top boys' names, 1884
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1883
1	John	9,388	same
2	William	8,897	same
3	James	5,693	same
4	George	4,961	up 1
5	Charles	4,802	down 1
6	Frank	3,218	same
7	Joseph	2,707	same
8	Thomas	2,572	up 2
9	Henry	2,474	down 1
10	Robert	2,468	down 1
11	Edward	2,439	same
12	Harry	2,323	same
13	Walter	1,902	same
14	Arthur	1,690	same
15	Fred	1,638	same
16	Albert	1,435	same
17	Samuel	945	same
18	Clarence	889	same
19	Louis	886	same
20	Grover	802	up 84
21	David	761	down 1
22	Joe	759	up 4
23	Richard	749	down 2
24	Charlie	746	down 2
25	Ernest	690	down 2
26	Roy	680	up 4
27	Jesse	670	up 1
28	Will	650	up 1
29	Andrew	616	down 5
30	Oscar	615	down 3
31	Willie	578	up 3
32	Daniel	573	down 7
33	Sam	533	same
34	Peter	524	up 2
35	Elmer	523	up 5
36	Carl	521	down 4
37	Alfred	520	down 2
38	Benjamin	509	down 7
39	Lewis	476	down 1
40	Earl	464	up 2
41	Ralph	464	up 4
42	Frederick	454	down 5
43	Lee	435	same
44	Howard	432	down 5
45	Paul	422	up 3
46	Herbert	421	down 5
47	Tom	394	down 3
48	Herman	385	down 1
49	Martin	385	down 3
50	Jacob	381	down 1
51	Michael	373	up 4
52	Ben	367	up 4
53	Harvey	358	same
54	Claude	353	same
55	Jim	346	down 3
56	Clyde	345	down 6
57	Francis	340	up 3
58	Chester	338	up 1
59	Eugene	321	down 8
60	Ed	314	up 4
61	Edwin	308	down 4
62	Raymond	299	up 6
63	Charley	290	same
64	Edgar	290	down 6
65	Otto	288	up 1
66	Ira	284	up 1
67	Bert	280	down 5
68	Jack	274	down 3
69	Luther	273	same
70	Floyd	263	up 3
71	Lawrence	262	down 10
72	Guy	260	down 1
73	Hugh	246	up 1
74	Oliver	245	down 2
75	Isaac	243	down 5
76	Alexander	236	up 4
77	Ray	232	up 1
78	Patrick	222	down 3
79	Homer	216	down 3
80	August	213	down 3
81	Theodore	211	same
82	Archie	206	up 2
83	Leonard	206	down 4
84	Leo	192	up 11
85	Harold	191	up 32
86	Marion	184	up 1
87	Allen	182	down 5
88	Anthony	179	up 4
89	Eddie	179	up 16
90	Jessie	177	down 1
91	Emil	175	up 8
92	Cleveland	174	up 188
93	Stephen	165	up 5
94	Warren	164	down 3
95	Julius	162	down 7
96	Philip	161	down 11
97	Dave	159	up 4
98	Horace	154	down 15
99	Leroy	154	down 5
100	Dan	151	up 9

Biggest climbers in 1884

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1883.

Girls

Belva: up 703 places, from 937th to 234th
Nella: up 418 places, from 892nd to 474th
Guadalupe: up 371 places, from 971st to 600th
Anner: up 367 places, from 925th to 558th
Leone: up 358 places, from 986th to 628th
Manie: up 333 places, from 997th to 664th
Maybell: up 333 places, from 1000th to 667th
Bennie: up 327 places, from 831st to 504th
Minna: up 323 places, from 796th to 473rd
Eugenie: up 322 places, from 775th to 453rd

Boys

Harlan: up 445 places, from 958th to 513th
Marcellus: up 405 places, from 996th to 591st
Buck: up 391 places, from 914th to 523rd
Wyatt: up 343 places, from 889th to 546th
Simpson: up 329 places, from 871st to 542nd
Cleve: up 328 places, from 533rd to 205th
Mat: up 312 places, from 773rd to 461st
Manley: up 309 places, from 994th to 685th
Julious: up 293 places, from 974th to 681st
Blaine: up 288 places, from 499th to 211th

New to the top 1,000 in 1884

Girls

Eulalia, 549th (back after dropping out)
Margaretta, 553rd (back after dropping out)
Tennessee, 579th (back after dropping out)
Verdie, 581st (back after dropping out)
Ena, 595th (back after dropping out)
Estell, 596th (back after dropping out)
Nelia, 608th (back after dropping out)
Tiny, 610th (back after dropping out)
Wilhelmine, 612th (back after dropping out)
Zoa, 613th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Billie, 436th (back after dropping out)
Lafe, 459th (back after dropping out)
Pierce, 500th (back after dropping out)
Carson, 525th (back after dropping out)
Jones, 533rd (back after dropping out)
Noel, 563rd (back after dropping out)
Oral, 597th (back after dropping out)
Angelo, 613th (back after dropping out)
Erastus, 629th (back after dropping out)
Ethan, 630th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1884?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 23.1% of the girls counted in 1884, and the top ten boys' names to 41.2% 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.