Most Popular Baby Names of 1886

In 1886, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 9,889 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 9,026. Mary held on to number one for a seventh year in a row, and John held on to number one for a seventh year in a row.

Social Security counted 144,533 girls and 110,783 boys born in 1886 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,282 different girls' names and 1,110 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1886

Top girls' names, 1886
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1885
1	Mary	9,889	same
2	Anna	4,283	same
3	Emma	2,764	same
4	Elizabeth	2,680	same
5	Minnie	2,372	up 1
6	Margaret	2,275	down 1
7	Ida	2,049	up 2
8	Bertha	2,001	same
9	Clara	1,916	down 2
10	Florence	1,860	up 2
11	Alice	1,811	same
12	Bessie	1,791	up 1
13	Annie	1,765	down 3
14	Grace	1,723	same
15	Ethel	1,699	same
16	Sarah	1,569	up 2
17	Nellie	1,492	down 1
18	Martha	1,491	down 1
19	Ella	1,464	same
20	Mabel	1,422	same
21	Carrie	1,396	up 1
22	Laura	1,372	down 1
23	Edna	1,314	up 7
24	Lillian	1,282	up 3
25	Helen	1,267	up 3
26	Rose	1,261	down 1
27	Gertrude	1,249	up 2
28	Cora	1,231	down 5
29	Pearl	1,204	down 3
30	Maude	1,189	down 6
31	Edith	1,184	same
32	Eva	1,155	up 6
33	Hattie	1,139	up 3
34	Jennie	1,100	down 1
35	Myrtle	1,094	down 1
36	Julia	1,061	down 4
37	Louise	1,061	up 2
38	Frances	1,059	up 8
39	Mattie	1,044	down 4
40	Lula	1,040	up 1
41	Jessie	1,003	down 1
42	Lillie	995	down 5
43	Lena	992	up 1
44	Marie	988	down 2
45	Catherine	916	same
46	Ada	915	down 3
47	Josephine	844	up 1
48	Fannie	837	down 1
49	Dora	827	same
50	Lucy	817	up 2
51	Blanche	787	up 2
52	Agnes	779	up 2
53	Maggie	756	down 2
54	Katherine	744	down 4
55	Mamie	712	up 7
56	Nora	708	same
57	Stella	702	same
58	Elsie	698	down 3
59	Rosa	673	down 1
60	Effie	672	down 1
61	Mae	641	up 2
62	Alma	603	up 6
63	Daisy	602	down 3
64	May	602	down 3
65	Nettie	591	up 1
66	Ruth	581	up 4
67	Della	565	up 4
68	Sadie	562	up 1
69	Susie	559	up 3
70	Ellen	551	down 6
71	Lizzie	512	down 6
72	Nancy	492	down 5
73	Sallie	490	same
74	Maud	478	up 1
75	Lottie	450	up 5
76	Flora	443	down 2
77	Viola	440	up 11
78	Irene	437	up 4
79	Etta	433	up 4
80	Katie	431	up 1
81	Hazel	429	up 24
82	Mollie	421	down 3
83	Addie	417	down 7
84	Olive	404	up 2
85	Esther	396	up 7
86	Georgia	395	down 2
87	Lydia	392	down 10
88	Willie	388	up 7
89	Kathryn	383	up 4
90	Lulu	376	down 5
91	Amanda	370	down 1
92	Caroline	370	down 14
93	Emily	369	down 6
94	Charlotte	368	same
95	Rebecca	355	up 4
96	Virginia	353	up 7
97	Nannie	347	up 7
98	Beulah	345	down 2
99	Harriet	341	down 10
100	Kate	335	down 3

Top boys' names, 1886
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1885
1	John	9,026	same
2	William	8,252	same
3	James	5,355	same
4	George	4,671	same
5	Charles	4,533	same
6	Frank	3,127	same
7	Joseph	2,594	same
8	Robert	2,443	up 1
9	Henry	2,404	down 1
10	Thomas	2,337	same
11	Edward	2,312	same
12	Harry	2,257	same
13	Walter	1,880	same
14	Arthur	1,656	up 1
15	Fred	1,599	down 1
16	Albert	1,488	same
17	Clarence	995	same
18	Samuel	870	same
19	Louis	846	same
20	Roy	767	up 4
21	Joe	759	up 4
22	Charlie	723	up 1
23	Richard	720	up 3
24	David	674	down 2
25	Ernest	668	down 4
26	Oscar	645	up 2
27	Will	642	same
28	Willie	641	up 1
29	Andrew	614	up 1
30	Jesse	614	up 1
31	Earl	570	up 5
32	Carl	556	up 2
33	Daniel	555	down 1
34	Sam	519	up 1
35	Elmer	485	up 5
36	Alfred	480	up 3
37	Howard	467	up 4
38	Paul	466	up 5
39	Benjamin	463	down 1
40	Frederick	461	down 3
41	Ralph	440	up 3
42	Peter	437	down 9
43	Lewis	431	down 1
44	Herman	418	up 11
45	Grover	407	down 25
46	Herbert	400	down 1
47	Lee	399	up 3
48	Claude	391	up 4
49	Jim	389	down 3
50	Tom	383	down 2
51	Eugene	362	same
52	Raymond	353	up 6
53	Michael	348	down 6
54	Jacob	346	down 1
55	Francis	344	up 1
56	Ben	335	up 6
57	Lawrence	331	up 7
58	Martin	329	down 9
59	Edwin	313	up 4
60	Harvey	310	down 1
61	Edgar	309	down 1
62	Clyde	307	down 5
63	Ed	303	down 9
64	Jack	299	down 3
65	Chester	287	up 2
66	Floyd	275	up 4
67	Ray	271	up 7
68	Otto	270	up 1
69	Theodore	258	up 15
70	Guy	255	down 2
71	Luther	253	same
72	Patrick	249	up 5
73	Leo	240	up 10
74	Leonard	236	up 6
75	Oliver	230	down 3
76	Bert	228	down 10
77	Hugh	227	down 4
78	Harold	224	up 4
79	Homer	224	down 3
80	Isaac	224	down 1
81	Charley	214	down 16
82	Allen	211	up 5
83	Alexander	206	down 5
84	August	203	up 2
85	Ira	198	down 10
86	Eddie	197	up 15
87	Philip	187	up 2
88	Marion	182	up 15
89	Jessie	181	down 8
90	Stephen	181	up 3
91	Bernard	180	same
92	Archie	175	down 7
93	Anthony	174	up 2
94	Julius	173	up 3
95	Clifford	172	up 9
96	Alex	161	down 4
97	Norman	161	up 19
98	Lester	160	up 4
99	Horace	156	down 5
100	Leroy	155	down 10

Biggest climbers in 1886

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1885.

Girls

Eileen: up 378 places, from 957th to 579th
Leda: up 368 places, from 992nd to 624th
Helga: up 355 places, from 974th to 619th
Juliet: up 333 places, from 775th to 442nd
Margarita: up 326 places, from 891st to 565th
Malvina: up 311 places, from 828th to 517th
Emelie: up 285 places, from 865th to 580th
Margery: up 278 places, from 829th to 551st
Jewel: up 274 places, from 770th to 496th
Jessica: up 269 places, from 981st to 712th

Boys

Evans: up 487 places, from 985th to 498th
Grace: up 438 places, from 996th to 558th
Abel: up 386 places, from 837th to 451st
Clara: up 375 places, from 850th to 475th
Lindsey: up 346 places, from 809th to 463rd
Geo: up 336 places, from 796th to 460th
Fitzhugh: up 327 places, from 988th to 661st
Clement: up 323 places, from 655th to 332nd
Edith: up 322 places, from 980th to 658th
Parker: up 321 places, from 915th to 594th

New to the top 1,000 in 1886

Girls

Vergie, 571st (its first time ever)
Magnolia, 595th (back after dropping out)
Ammie, 607th (back after dropping out)
Attie, 608th (back after dropping out)
Drusilla, 612th (back after dropping out)
Eulalia, 615th (back after dropping out)
Felicia, 616th (back after dropping out)
Narcissus, 628th (back after dropping out)
Arminda, 637th (back after dropping out)
Celestia, 639th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Thornton, 448th (back after dropping out)
Oswald, 465th (back after dropping out)
Emmit, 480th (back after dropping out)
Ivy, 484th (back after dropping out)
Sid, 505th (back after dropping out)
Ronald, 534th (back after dropping out)
Drew, 551st (back after dropping out)
Elton, 555th (back after dropping out)
Felipe, 556th (back after dropping out)
Lawyer, 562nd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1886?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 22.2% of the girls counted in 1886, and the top ten boys' names to 40.4% 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.