Most Popular Baby Names of 1890

In 1890, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 12,078 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,502. Mary held on to number one for a 11th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 11th year in a row.

Social Security counted 190,377 girls and 111,024 boys born in 1890 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,534 different girls' names and 1,161 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1890

Top girls' names, 1890
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1889
1	Mary	12,078	same
2	Anna	5,233	same
3	Elizabeth	3,112	same
4	Margaret	3,100	same
5	Emma	2,980	same
6	Florence	2,744	up 1
7	Ethel	2,718	up 1
8	Minnie	2,650	down 2
9	Clara	2,496	up 1
10	Bertha	2,388	up 1
11	Bessie	2,370	down 2
12	Helen	2,312	up 5
13	Grace	2,278	up 2
14	Alice	2,271	down 2
15	Annie	2,220	down 2
16	Ida	2,178	down 2
17	Mabel	2,058	down 1
18	Edna	1,973	same
19	Lillian	1,862	up 4
20	Nellie	1,821	down 1
21	Sarah	1,786	down 1
22	Martha	1,784	down 1
23	Ella	1,758	down 1
24	Pearl	1,741	same
25	Rose	1,725	up 1
26	Gertrude	1,713	up 2
27	Laura	1,634	down 2
28	Marie	1,563	up 2
29	Carrie	1,510	down 2
30	Edith	1,493	down 1
31	Louise	1,472	up 7
32	Eva	1,436	down 1
33	Frances	1,416	up 1
34	Myrtle	1,406	down 1
35	Lillie	1,390	up 2
36	Cora	1,386	down 4
37	Hazel	1,366	up 11
38	Hattie	1,363	down 3
39	Maude	1,359	down 3
40	Julia	1,275	same
41	Jennie	1,259	down 2
42	Mattie	1,256	up 2
43	Jessie	1,250	same
44	Catherine	1,232	down 2
45	Elsie	1,220	down 4
46	Ruth	1,195	same
47	Lena	1,137	down 2
48	Lula	1,121	down 1
49	Josephine	1,118	same
50	Agnes	1,095	same
51	Ada	1,074	same
52	Fannie	1,005	up 1
53	Lucy	973	up 1
54	Mamie	967	up 4
55	Blanche	953	down 3
56	Stella	924	down 1
57	Alma	922	up 5
58	Mae	920	down 1
59	Katherine	900	down 3
60	Irene	893	up 3
61	Maggie	891	same
62	Dora	883	down 3
63	Nora	835	down 3
64	Rosa	770	up 2
65	May	751	down 1
66	Effie	717	down 1
67	Nettie	707	up 3
68	Viola	697	up 8
69	Sadie	680	down 2
70	Ellen	659	down 2
71	Mildred	635	down 2
72	Della	631	same
73	Susie	630	down 2
74	Lizzie	620	same
75	Esther	619	same
76	Daisy	588	down 3
77	Willie	578	up 8
78	Lydia	576	up 5
79	Beulah	573	up 2
80	Sallie	571	down 3
81	Ruby	540	down 3
82	Gladys	525	up 14
83	Georgia	513	up 8
84	Nancy	512	up 2
85	Flora	510	down 6
86	Emily	509	up 7
87	Katie	509	down 7
88	Lottie	502	down 6
89	Olive	491	down 1
90	Pauline	475	up 5
91	Kathryn	474	up 3
92	Addie	468	down 2
93	Dorothy	458	up 9
94	Caroline	455	down 10
95	Etta	452	down 8
96	Marguerite	442	up 24
97	Maud	439	down 5
98	Beatrice	417	up 10
99	Charlotte	417	down 10
100	Virginia	405	up 1

Top boys' names, 1890
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1889
1	John	8,502	same
2	William	7,494	same
3	James	5,097	same
4	George	4,458	same
5	Charles	4,061	same
6	Frank	3,078	same
7	Joseph	2,670	same
8	Robert	2,541	up 1
9	Henry	2,349	up 2
10	Harry	2,345	down 2
11	Edward	2,282	down 1
12	Thomas	2,200	same
13	Walter	1,905	same
14	Arthur	1,610	same
15	Fred	1,506	same
16	Albert	1,417	same
17	Clarence	1,018	same
18	Roy	941	same
19	Louis	860	same
20	Samuel	815	same
21	Charlie	797	up 8
22	Ernest	774	up 1
23	Willie	758	up 3
24	Earl	744	up 4
25	Richard	743	down 1
26	David	731	down 4
27	Carl	693	same
28	Joe	682	down 3
29	Oscar	628	up 3
30	Will	613	same
31	Paul	607	up 4
32	Ralph	587	up 7
33	Jesse	576	down 2
34	Andrew	575	down 1
35	Alfred	549	up 6
36	Raymond	546	up 1
37	Benjamin	537	down 16
38	Elmer	528	down 4
39	Daniel	505	down 3
40	Howard	501	down 2
41	Sam	489	down 1
42	Herbert	467	same
43	Frederick	410	up 1
44	Lee	410	up 2
45	Peter	410	same
46	Eugene	408	up 6
47	Harold	408	up 10
48	Michael	394	up 3
49	Leo	393	up 10
50	Herman	382	down 2
51	Lewis	375	down 4
52	Lawrence	372	up 4
53	Jack	368	up 8
54	Ben	363	down 11
55	Francis	363	same
56	Ray	349	down 2
57	Claude	347	down 8
58	Martin	347	down 5
59	Tom	347	down 9
60	Floyd	341	up 3
61	Edgar	338	down 1
62	Jim	336	down 4
63	Edwin	323	up 3
64	Clyde	317	down 2
65	Harvey	296	down 1
66	Jacob	290	up 1
67	Leonard	275	up 10
68	Otto	267	down 3
69	Chester	263	same
70	Ed	262	up 1
71	Luther	253	up 1
72	Guy	249	down 2
73	Jessie	241	up 13
74	Leroy	236	up 18
75	Patrick	227	down 1
76	Lester	226	up 6
77	Homer	223	down 4
78	Stanley	223	up 30
79	Archie	221	up 11
80	Hugh	219	down 2
81	Oliver	218	up 3
82	Ira	209	up 3
83	Clifford	207	up 4
84	August	206	up 12
85	Alexander	202	up 8
86	Eddie	197	up 19
87	Leon	197	up 7
88	Philip	192	up 7
89	Theodore	190	down 13
90	Allen	189	down 11
91	Anthony	189	down 11
92	Isaac	187	down 1
93	Charley	183	down 5
94	Lloyd	182	up 4
95	Russell	182	down 6
96	Leslie	181	up 10
97	Bert	180	down 22
98	Bernard	178	down 17
99	Grover	177	down 16
100	Sidney	176	up 11

Biggest climbers in 1890

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1889.

Girls

Easter: up 467 places, from 966th to 499th
Exie: up 391 places, from 977th to 586th
Eldora: up 321 places, from 968th to 647th
Magdalen: up 305 places, from 936th to 631st
Dottie: up 303 places, from 854th to 551st
Metta: up 302 places, from 938th to 636th
Eveline: up 300 places, from 976th to 676th
Jessica: up 299 places, from 926th to 627th
Emelia: up 297 places, from 732nd to 435th
Arline: up 289 places, from 908th to 619th

Boys

Minor: up 421 places, from 947th to 526th
Clemens: up 362 places, from 998th to 636th
Elzie: up 360 places, from 738th to 378th
Love: up 357 places, from 942nd to 585th
Gregory: up 343 places, from 922nd to 579th
Enos: up 332 places, from 909th to 577th
Collie: up 323 places, from 999th to 676th
West: up 312 places, from 876th to 564th
Len: up 312 places, from 934th to 622nd
Paris: up 309 places, from 865th to 556th

New to the top 1,000 in 1890

Girls

Alvena, 601st (back after dropping out)
Delila, 644th (back after dropping out)
Hildegarde, 651st (back after dropping out)
Sabra, 662nd (back after dropping out)
Tempie, 664th (back after dropping out)
Electa, 672nd (back after dropping out)
Macie, 682nd (back after dropping out)
Olevia, 687th (back after dropping out)
Rosalee, 688th (back after dropping out)
Etna, 703rd (back after dropping out)

Boys

Hoyt, 521st (back after dropping out)
Buford, 539th (back after dropping out)
Ebb, 542nd (back after dropping out)
Loyal, 555th (its first time ever)
Pleasant, 557th (back after dropping out)
Ashley, 569th (back after dropping out)
Kirby, 582nd (back after dropping out)
Alec, 603rd (back after dropping out)
Doctor, 610th (back after dropping out)
Eva, 612th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1890?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.7% of the girls counted in 1890, and the top ten boys' names to 38.4% 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.