Most Popular Baby Names of 1885

In 1885, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 9,128 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,756. Mary held on to number one for a sixth year in a row, and John held on to number one for a sixth year in a row.

Social Security counted 133,055 girls and 107,799 boys born in 1885 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,197 different girls' names and 1,097 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1885

Top girls' names, 1885
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1884
1	Mary	9,128	same
2	Anna	3,994	same
3	Emma	2,728	same
4	Elizabeth	2,582	same
5	Margaret	2,204	up 1
6	Minnie	2,178	down 1
7	Clara	1,910	up 1
8	Bertha	1,860	up 1
9	Ida	1,854	down 2
10	Annie	1,703	same
11	Alice	1,681	same
12	Florence	1,667	same
13	Bessie	1,588	up 2
14	Grace	1,575	down 1
15	Ethel	1,495	up 3
16	Nellie	1,432	up 1
17	Martha	1,425	down 1
18	Sarah	1,424	down 4
19	Ella	1,395	same
20	Mabel	1,349	same
21	Laura	1,325	same
22	Carrie	1,283	same
23	Cora	1,253	same
24	Maude	1,222	same
25	Rose	1,164	up 5
26	Pearl	1,146	down 1
27	Lillian	1,143	down 1
28	Helen	1,134	up 5
29	Gertrude	1,086	down 1
30	Edna	1,077	up 6
31	Edith	1,071	down 4
32	Julia	1,062	up 5
33	Jennie	1,045	down 4
34	Myrtle	1,026	same
35	Mattie	1,014	down 4
36	Hattie	1,008	down 4
37	Lillie	979	up 3
38	Eva	971	same
39	Louise	956	down 4
40	Jessie	952	up 2
41	Lula	949	down 2
42	Marie	885	up 7
43	Ada	876	up 1
44	Lena	876	down 3
45	Catherine	846	down 2
46	Frances	844	same
47	Fannie	783	up 3
48	Josephine	783	down 3
49	Dora	776	up 2
50	Katherine	751	up 5
51	Maggie	716	down 3
52	Lucy	711	down 5
53	Blanche	710	down 1
54	Agnes	695	down 1
55	Elsie	685	up 8
56	Nora	670	same
57	Stella	649	up 3
58	Rosa	623	same
59	Effie	613	up 3
60	Daisy	607	down 6
61	May	607	same
62	Mamie	606	down 5
63	Mae	578	up 1
64	Ellen	555	down 5
65	Lizzie	537	up 1
66	Nettie	536	up 1
67	Nancy	527	up 1
68	Alma	515	up 2
69	Sadie	514	up 2
70	Ruth	506	up 4
71	Della	500	down 6
72	Susie	477	up 1
73	Sallie	457	down 4
74	Flora	445	up 3
75	Maud	429	down 3
76	Addie	406	up 9
77	Lydia	404	up 3
78	Caroline	399	same
79	Mollie	396	same
80	Lottie	393	down 4
81	Katie	388	up 2
82	Irene	376	up 13
83	Etta	372	down 8
84	Georgia	371	up 6
85	Lulu	360	up 4
86	Olive	349	down 2
87	Emily	346	down 6
88	Viola	345	down 6
89	Harriet	342	up 2
90	Amanda	339	up 2
91	Jane	330	up 7
92	Esther	320	up 7
93	Kathryn	320	down 5
94	Charlotte	317	down 8
95	Willie	312	down 2
96	Beulah	309	up 17
97	Kate	309	down 10
98	Ollie	305	up 6
99	Rebecca	302	up 3
100	Susan	302	down 6

Top boys' names, 1885
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1884
1	John	8,756	same
2	William	8,044	same
3	James	5,175	same
4	George	4,674	same
5	Charles	4,599	same
6	Frank	3,067	same
7	Joseph	2,540	same
8	Henry	2,406	up 1
9	Robert	2,322	up 1
10	Thomas	2,266	down 2
11	Edward	2,220	same
12	Harry	2,198	same
13	Walter	1,808	same
14	Fred	1,562	up 1
15	Arthur	1,516	down 1
16	Albert	1,429	same
17	Clarence	906	up 1
18	Samuel	888	down 1
19	Louis	809	same
20	Grover	768	same
21	Ernest	718	up 4
22	David	712	down 1
23	Charlie	705	up 1
24	Roy	691	up 2
25	Joe	681	down 3
26	Richard	672	down 3
27	Will	625	up 1
28	Oscar	623	up 2
29	Willie	614	up 2
30	Andrew	599	down 1
31	Jesse	556	down 4
32	Daniel	535	same
33	Peter	516	up 1
34	Carl	494	up 2
35	Sam	492	down 2
36	Earl	481	up 4
37	Frederick	466	up 5
38	Benjamin	464	same
39	Alfred	446	down 2
40	Elmer	443	down 5
41	Howard	438	up 3
42	Lewis	437	down 3
43	Paul	428	up 2
44	Ralph	422	down 3
45	Herbert	388	up 1
46	Jim	370	up 9
47	Michael	370	up 4
48	Tom	361	down 1
49	Martin	357	same
50	Lee	348	down 7
51	Eugene	345	up 8
52	Claude	343	up 2
53	Jacob	343	down 3
54	Ed	328	up 6
55	Herman	326	down 7
56	Francis	319	up 1
57	Clyde	318	down 1
58	Raymond	308	up 4
59	Harvey	304	down 6
60	Edgar	303	up 4
61	Jack	295	up 7
62	Ben	292	down 10
63	Edwin	289	down 2
64	Lawrence	288	up 7
65	Charley	285	down 2
66	Bert	276	up 1
67	Chester	273	down 9
68	Guy	266	up 4
69	Otto	263	down 4
70	Floyd	259	same
71	Luther	259	down 2
72	Oliver	258	up 2
73	Hugh	257	same
74	Ray	237	up 3
75	Ira	235	down 9
76	Homer	228	up 3
77	Patrick	217	up 1
78	Alexander	205	down 2
79	Isaac	204	down 4
80	Leonard	204	up 3
81	Jessie	202	up 9
82	Harold	201	up 3
83	Leo	199	up 1
84	Theodore	199	down 3
85	Archie	196	down 3
86	August	193	down 6
87	Allen	184	same
88	Sidney	170	up 19
89	Philip	163	up 7
90	Leroy	162	up 9
91	Bernard	160	up 17
92	Alex	159	up 13
93	Stephen	158	same
94	Horace	155	up 4
95	Anthony	153	down 7
96	Warren	151	down 2
97	Julius	150	down 2
98	Cleveland	147	down 6
99	Leon	146	up 4
100	Victor	143	up 17

Biggest climbers in 1885

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1884.

Girls

Bulah: up 363 places, from 943rd to 580th
Phebe: up 358 places, from 719th to 361st
Camille: up 340 places, from 865th to 525th
Louvenia: up 331 places, from 897th to 566th
Alida: up 310 places, from 852nd to 542nd
Glenna: up 307 places, from 758th to 451st
Leo: up 301 places, from 980th to 679th
Lonie: up 300 places, from 895th to 595th
Magdalene: up 292 places, from 772nd to 480th
Gail: up 287 places, from 815th to 528th

Boys

Gerhard: up 450 places, from 898th to 448th
Omar: up 446 places, from 941st to 495th
Bryant: up 444 places, from 866th to 422nd
Butler: up 439 places, from 993rd to 554th
Pleasant: up 408 places, from 949th to 541st
Waldo: up 382 places, from 842nd to 460th
Birt: up 374 places, from 985th to 611th
Helmer: up 340 places, from 902nd to 562nd
Ashley: up 337 places, from 858th to 521st
Benny: up 334 places, from 983rd to 649th

New to the top 1,000 in 1885

Girls

Theodora, 518th (back after dropping out)
Lonnie, 565th (back after dropping out)
Winona, 606th (back after dropping out)
Clotilde, 613th (its first time ever)
Philomene, 621st (back after dropping out)
Exie, 638th (back after dropping out)
Malissie, 648th (back after dropping out)
Nova, 652nd (its first time ever)
Arabella, 659th (back after dropping out)
Bina, 660th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Kirby, 512th (back after dropping out)
Lamar, 513th (its first time ever)
Everette, 527th (back after dropping out)
Hayes, 530th (back after dropping out)
Benedict, 551st (back after dropping out)
Brown, 553rd (back after dropping out)
Cyril, 555th (back after dropping out)
Lincoln, 589th (back after dropping out)
Rowland, 598th (back after dropping out)
Saul, 600th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1885?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 22.7% of the girls counted in 1885, and the top ten boys' names to 40.7% 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.