Most Popular Baby Names of 1888

In 1888, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 11,754 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 9,247. Mary held on to number one for a ninth year in a row, and John held on to number one for a ninth year in a row.

Social Security counted 178,622 girls and 120,852 boys born in 1888 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,474 different girls' names and 1,177 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1888

Top girls' names, 1888
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1887
1	Mary	11,754	same
2	Anna	4,982	same
3	Elizabeth	3,224	same
4	Emma	3,087	same
5	Margaret	2,904	same
6	Minnie	2,654	same
7	Bertha	2,450	same
8	Florence	2,444	up 1
9	Ethel	2,374	up 2
10	Bessie	2,278	up 3
11	Clara	2,230	down 3
12	Ida	2,229	down 2
13	Alice	2,202	up 1
14	Annie	2,188	down 2
15	Grace	2,090	same
16	Helen	1,847	up 5
17	Mabel	1,830	up 1
18	Ella	1,774	down 2
19	Martha	1,769	down 2
20	Sarah	1,755	same
21	Nellie	1,736	down 2
22	Edna	1,687	up 2
23	Lillian	1,656	up 3
24	Carrie	1,647	down 1
25	Laura	1,624	down 3
26	Pearl	1,591	down 1
27	Rose	1,590	up 3
28	Gertrude	1,468	same
29	Edith	1,453	same
30	Frances	1,452	up 4
31	Cora	1,433	down 4
32	Maude	1,396	down 1
33	Louise	1,334	up 2
34	Eva	1,329	down 1
35	Myrtle	1,310	up 1
36	Hattie	1,298	down 4
37	Jennie	1,298	up 1
38	Julia	1,292	up 1
39	Mattie	1,268	up 1
40	Marie	1,258	up 3
41	Lillie	1,249	down 4
42	Catherine	1,212	up 2
43	Jessie	1,200	down 2
44	Lula	1,173	up 3
45	Lena	1,162	down 3
46	Ada	1,116	down 1
47	Elsie	1,112	up 2
48	Agnes	1,046	down 2
49	Josephine	1,001	up 1
50	Fannie	991	up 2
51	Lucy	964	same
52	Blanche	942	up 2
53	Mamie	917	up 4
54	Dora	898	down 6
55	Hazel	898	up 17
56	Katherine	893	down 3
57	Maggie	882	down 2
58	Alma	853	up 5
59	Ruth	850	up 3
60	Mae	836	down 2
61	Nora	832	down 5
62	Rosa	832	down 2
63	May	782	down 2
64	Stella	775	down 5
65	Effie	744	down 1
66	Irene	722	up 7
67	Nettie	692	down 2
68	Ellen	691	down 2
69	Sadie	691	up 1
70	Sallie	633	down 1
71	Della	621	up 3
72	Susie	621	up 3
73	Daisy	612	down 6
74	Viola	596	up 6
75	Lizzie	593	down 7
76	Nancy	582	down 5
77	Esther	572	up 2
78	Flora	541	up 4
79	Willie	522	up 9
80	Katie	516	down 3
81	Lottie	511	same
82	Etta	500	down 4
83	Mildred	499	up 6
84	Georgia	477	up 8
85	Lydia	472	down 9
86	Maud	469	down 3
87	Olive	465	down 2
88	Charlotte	464	up 3
89	Caroline	458	down 5
90	Emily	457	up 8
91	Addie	455	down 5
92	Jane	446	up 15
93	Kathryn	446	down 6
94	Ruby	445	up 11
95	Beulah	426	down 5
96	Ollie	411	up 1
97	Amanda	404	down 1
98	Pauline	393	up 6
99	Harriet	389	down 5
100	Virginia	385	up 1

Top boys' names, 1888
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1887
1	John	9,247	same
2	William	8,705	same
3	James	5,562	same
4	George	4,912	same
5	Charles	4,591	same
6	Frank	3,459	same
7	Joseph	2,993	same
8	Robert	2,814	up 3
9	Harry	2,759	up 3
10	Henry	2,596	down 2
11	Edward	2,470	down 1
12	Thomas	2,449	down 3
13	Walter	2,040	same
14	Arthur	1,710	same
15	Fred	1,665	same
16	Albert	1,569	same
17	Clarence	1,022	same
18	Samuel	931	same
19	Louis	884	same
20	Roy	856	same
21	David	801	up 1
22	Charlie	796	up 2
23	Joe	789	down 2
24	Willie	786	up 3
25	Benjamin	781	up 9
26	Richard	772	down 1
27	Ernest	766	down 4
28	Will	707	up 2
29	Carl	675	down 1
30	Earl	675	up 2
31	Oscar	647	down 2
32	Jesse	637	down 6
33	Andrew	615	same
34	Sam	607	up 5
35	Daniel	566	down 4
36	Ralph	547	up 2
37	Alfred	536	down 2
38	Paul	529	up 2
39	Elmer	527	down 3
40	Howard	513	up 2
41	Peter	498	up 2
42	Frederick	496	down 5
43	Herbert	485	down 2
44	Grover	474	up 15
45	Raymond	469	up 2
46	Michael	466	up 2
47	Ben	463	up 11
48	Lee	430	down 4
49	Tom	416	up 3
50	Lewis	412	down 1
51	Herman	403	down 6
52	Harrison	400	up 78
53	Eugene	398	same
54	Martin	378	down 3
55	Claude	374	down 9
56	Jim	362	down 6
57	Francis	353	down 3
58	Jacob	353	down 2
59	Leo	353	up 15
60	Clyde	344	down 5
61	Lawrence	343	down 1
62	Harvey	334	up 3
63	Ray	331	up 3
64	Jack	329	up 4
65	Edgar	321	down 1
66	Otto	312	up 1
67	Floyd	302	up 6
68	Ed	301	down 6
69	Edwin	298	down 12
70	Harold	298	down 9
71	Guy	297	same
72	Chester	288	up 6
73	Bert	282	down 1
74	Luther	275	down 11
75	Allen	260	up 6
76	Homer	256	down 6
77	Charley	254	down 2
78	Jessie	254	up 8
79	Hugh	253	down 10
80	Theodore	249	up 2
81	Patrick	245	down 5
82	Alexander	237	up 5
83	Leonard	225	down 4
84	Ira	222	down 7
85	Isaac	221	down 1
86	August	213	down 3
87	Bernard	207	up 10
88	Oliver	206	down 8
89	Julius	197	up 4
90	Leon	196	up 9
91	Philip	196	up 4
92	Clifford	194	down 1
93	Anthony	193	up 5
94	Eddie	193	up 12
95	Leroy	192	down 7
96	Archie	191	down 11
97	Lester	189	down 8
98	Stephen	187	down 6
99	Leslie	175	down 9
100	Lloyd	175	up 8

Biggest climbers in 1888

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1887.

Girls

Celestine: up 437 places, from 962nd to 525th
Jewell: up 418 places, from 899th to 481st
Melinda: up 358 places, from 915th to 557th
Metta: up 353 places, from 918th to 565th
Robert: up 337 places, from 928th to 591st
Clora: up 320 places, from 965th to 645th
Philomena: up 317 places, from 840th to 523rd
Bennie: up 315 places, from 735th to 420th
Elena: up 302 places, from 971st to 669th
Jessica: up 297 places, from 898th to 601st

Boys

Dell: up 451 places, from 961st to 510th
Simeon: up 447 places, from 908th to 461st
Hazel: up 424 places, from 991st to 567th
Hardy: up 403 places, from 783rd to 380th
Bessie: up 363 places, from 943rd to 580th
Bryant: up 351 places, from 836th to 485th
Chin: up 336 places, from 955th to 619th
Hector: up 333 places, from 786th to 453rd
Blair: up 326 places, from 944th to 618th
Evans: up 319 places, from 855th to 536th

New to the top 1,000 in 1888

Girls

Lorraine, 562nd (back after dropping out)
Ebba, 595th (its first time ever)
Guadalupe, 599th (back after dropping out)
Carmela, 615th (back after dropping out)
Nelia, 625th (back after dropping out)
Zilpha, 635th (back after dropping out)
Aura, 641st (back after dropping out)
Effa, 648th (back after dropping out)
Eudora, 650th (back after dropping out)
Janette, 676th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Hunter, 493rd (back after dropping out)
Melton, 517th (back after dropping out)
Reed, 520th (back after dropping out)
Jones, 541st (back after dropping out)
Hilliard, 569th (back after dropping out)
Noel, 576th (back after dropping out)
Vester, 578th (back after dropping out)
Larkin, 593rd (back after dropping out)
Walton, 605th (back after dropping out)
Alphonso, 612th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1888?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 21.4% of the girls counted in 1888, and the top ten boys' names to 39.4% 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.