Most Popular Baby Names of 1889

In 1889, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 11,648 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,548. Mary held on to number one for a tenth year in a row, and John held on to number one for a tenth year in a row.

Social Security counted 178,366 girls and 110,580 boys born in 1889 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,479 different girls' names and 1,111 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1889

Top girls' names, 1889
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1888
1	Mary	11,648	same
2	Anna	5,062	same
3	Elizabeth	3,058	same
4	Margaret	2,917	up 1
5	Emma	2,884	down 1
6	Minnie	2,624	same
7	Florence	2,465	up 1
8	Ethel	2,463	up 1
9	Bessie	2,343	up 1
10	Clara	2,319	up 1
11	Bertha	2,293	down 4
12	Alice	2,145	up 1
13	Annie	2,123	up 1
14	Ida	2,122	down 2
15	Grace	2,049	same
16	Mabel	1,947	up 1
17	Helen	1,909	down 1
18	Edna	1,815	up 4
19	Nellie	1,752	up 2
20	Sarah	1,730	same
21	Martha	1,711	down 2
22	Ella	1,647	down 4
23	Lillian	1,640	same
24	Pearl	1,588	up 2
25	Laura	1,567	same
26	Rose	1,550	up 1
27	Carrie	1,547	down 3
28	Gertrude	1,543	same
29	Edith	1,523	same
30	Marie	1,436	up 10
31	Eva	1,372	up 3
32	Cora	1,365	down 1
33	Myrtle	1,361	up 2
34	Frances	1,351	down 4
35	Hattie	1,328	up 1
36	Maude	1,293	down 4
37	Lillie	1,289	up 4
38	Louise	1,283	down 5
39	Jennie	1,252	down 2
40	Julia	1,201	down 2
41	Elsie	1,199	up 6
42	Catherine	1,198	same
43	Jessie	1,196	same
44	Mattie	1,173	down 5
45	Lena	1,096	same
46	Ruth	1,073	up 13
47	Lula	1,067	down 3
48	Hazel	1,056	up 7
49	Josephine	1,047	same
50	Agnes	1,033	down 2
51	Ada	1,005	down 5
52	Blanche	972	same
53	Fannie	909	down 3
54	Lucy	893	down 3
55	Stella	891	up 9
56	Katherine	889	same
57	Mae	883	up 3
58	Mamie	883	down 5
59	Dora	882	down 5
60	Nora	831	up 1
61	Maggie	825	down 4
62	Alma	819	down 4
63	Irene	737	up 3
64	May	723	down 1
65	Effie	711	same
66	Rosa	707	down 4
67	Sadie	664	up 2
68	Ellen	653	same
69	Mildred	625	up 14
70	Nettie	622	down 3
71	Susie	607	up 1
72	Della	606	down 1
73	Daisy	583	same
74	Lizzie	570	up 1
75	Esther	553	up 2
76	Viola	536	down 2
77	Sallie	525	down 7
78	Ruby	522	up 16
79	Flora	516	down 1
80	Katie	502	same
81	Beulah	498	up 14
82	Lottie	498	down 1
83	Lydia	496	up 2
84	Caroline	491	up 5
85	Willie	488	down 6
86	Nancy	470	down 10
87	Etta	465	down 5
88	Olive	464	down 1
89	Charlotte	455	down 1
90	Addie	448	up 1
91	Georgia	445	down 7
92	Maud	432	down 6
93	Emily	429	down 3
94	Kathryn	415	down 1
95	Pauline	415	up 3
96	Gladys	414	up 21
97	Amanda	413	same
98	Mollie	402	up 4
99	Harriet	397	same
100	Nannie	396	up 4

Top boys' names, 1889
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1888
1	John	8,548	same
2	William	7,772	same
3	James	5,020	same
4	George	4,430	same
5	Charles	4,199	same
6	Frank	2,975	same
7	Joseph	2,729	same
8	Harry	2,559	up 1
9	Robert	2,513	down 1
10	Edward	2,299	up 1
11	Henry	2,286	down 1
12	Thomas	2,233	same
13	Walter	1,916	same
14	Arthur	1,668	same
15	Fred	1,554	same
16	Albert	1,353	same
17	Clarence	984	same
18	Roy	888	up 2
19	Louis	837	same
20	Samuel	810	down 2
21	Benjamin	760	up 4
22	David	757	down 1
23	Ernest	736	up 4
24	Richard	711	up 2
25	Joe	709	down 2
26	Willie	708	down 2
27	Carl	704	up 2
28	Earl	688	up 2
29	Charlie	685	down 7
30	Will	631	down 2
31	Jesse	576	up 1
32	Oscar	572	down 1
33	Andrew	561	same
34	Elmer	557	up 5
35	Paul	555	up 3
36	Daniel	515	down 1
37	Raymond	511	up 8
38	Howard	503	up 2
39	Ralph	495	down 3
40	Sam	486	down 6
41	Alfred	472	down 4
42	Herbert	472	up 1
43	Ben	453	up 4
44	Frederick	451	down 2
45	Peter	425	down 4
46	Lee	415	up 2
47	Lewis	414	up 3
48	Herman	405	up 3
49	Claude	386	up 6
50	Tom	379	down 1
51	Michael	377	down 5
52	Eugene	369	up 1
53	Martin	367	up 1
54	Ray	355	up 9
55	Francis	346	up 2
56	Lawrence	342	up 5
57	Harold	340	up 13
58	Jim	328	down 2
59	Leo	325	same
60	Edgar	322	up 5
61	Jack	322	up 3
62	Clyde	318	down 2
63	Floyd	313	up 4
64	Harvey	311	down 2
65	Otto	309	up 1
66	Edwin	306	up 3
67	Jacob	295	down 9
68	Harrison	288	down 16
69	Chester	274	up 3
70	Guy	271	up 1
71	Ed	270	down 3
72	Luther	270	up 2
73	Homer	255	up 3
74	Patrick	236	up 7
75	Bert	231	down 2
76	Theodore	231	up 4
77	Leonard	229	up 6
78	Hugh	225	up 1
79	Allen	222	down 4
80	Anthony	219	up 13
81	Bernard	215	up 6
82	Lester	213	up 15
83	Grover	210	down 39
84	Oliver	210	up 4
85	Ira	207	down 1
86	Jessie	207	down 8
87	Clifford	202	up 5
88	Charley	199	down 11
89	Russell	198	up 26
90	Archie	195	up 6
91	Isaac	188	down 6
92	Leroy	186	up 3
93	Alexander	185	down 11
94	Leon	184	down 4
95	Philip	183	down 4
96	August	171	down 10
97	Milton	171	up 7
98	Lloyd	167	up 2
99	Warren	167	up 13
100	Horace	166	up 3

Biggest climbers in 1889

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1888.

Girls

Beth: up 481 places, from 967th to 486th
Josefa: up 408 places, from 991st to 583rd
Estell: up 388 places, from 979th to 591st
Leatha: up 324 places, from 818th to 494th
Frona: up 317 places, from 985th to 668th
Lorene: up 316 places, from 820th to 504th
Dulcie: up 312 places, from 977th to 665th
Grayce: up 299 places, from 860th to 561st
Lonnie: up 294 places, from 819th to 525th
Oda: up 285 places, from 783rd to 498th

Boys

Hamilton: up 532 places, from 968th to 436th
Lonie: up 485 places, from 999th to 514th
Bertie: up 461 places, from 928th to 467th
Odie: up 435 places, from 892nd to 457th
Beverly: up 427 places, from 929th to 502nd
Grady: up 419 places, from 717th to 298th
Reese: up 419 places, from 898th to 479th
Butler: up 377 places, from 935th to 558th
Ferd: up 362 places, from 961st to 599th
Rollin: up 355 places, from 900th to 545th

New to the top 1,000 in 1889

Girls

Leonie, 564th (back after dropping out)
Berenice, 570th (back after dropping out)
Diana, 575th (back after dropping out)
Adell, 589th (back after dropping out)
Bula, 601st (back after dropping out)
Hope, 610th (back after dropping out)
Hellen, 650th (back after dropping out)
Buena, 662nd (back after dropping out)
Hazle, 670th (back after dropping out)
Izora, 671st (back after dropping out)

Boys

Leander, 386th (back after dropping out)
Dominick, 504th (back after dropping out)
Connie, 531st (back after dropping out)
Randall, 543rd (back after dropping out)
Ballard, 552nd (back after dropping out)
Winfred, 579th (back after dropping out)
Essie, 598th (back after dropping out)
Linton, 606th (back after dropping out)
Mattie, 609th (back after dropping out)
Otha, 614th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1889?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 21.2% of the girls counted in 1889, and the top ten boys' names to 38.9% 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.