Most Popular Baby Names of the 1890s

Across the 1890s, Mary was the most popular girls' name, given to 131,138 babies, and John led the boys with 80,664.

That's out of 2,221,561 girls and 1,140,947 boys counted between 1890 and 1899, under 2,963 different girls' names and 2,059 boys' names.

Number one, year by year

Most popular names each year, 1890 to 1899
Year	Girls	Boys
1890	Mary	John
1891	Mary	John
1892	Mary	John
1893	Mary	John
1894	Mary	John
1895	Mary	John
1896	Mary	John
1897	Mary	John
1898	Mary	John
1899	Mary	John

Top 100 names of the 1890s

Top girls' names, 1890–1899
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1880s
1	Mary	131,138	same
2	Anna	55,261	same
3	Margaret	37,937	up 2
4	Helen	37,802	up 20
5	Elizabeth	33,879	down 1
6	Ruth	32,867	up 60
7	Florence	32,345	up 5
8	Ethel	31,453	up 7
9	Emma	28,652	down 6
10	Marie	25,853	up 35
11	Clara	25,473	down 2
12	Bertha	25,125	down 4
13	Minnie	24,615	down 7
14	Bessie	24,417	down 1
15	Alice	24,415	down 5
16	Lillian	24,106	up 10
17	Edna	24,068	up 12
18	Grace	23,804	down 4
19	Annie	23,122	down 8
20	Mabel	21,991	same
21	Ida	21,212	down 14
22	Rose	21,134	up 6
23	Hazel	20,154	up 61
24	Gertrude	19,898	up 3
25	Martha	19,415	down 7
26	Pearl	19,054	up 4
27	Frances	18,090	up 14
28	Myrtle	17,717	up 9
29	Edith	17,650	up 2
30	Nellie	17,285	down 11
31	Sarah	17,154	down 15
32	Ella	17,072	down 15
33	Eva	16,460	up 2
34	Laura	16,433	down 13
35	Elsie	16,375	up 20
36	Louise	15,174	up 2
37	Esther	14,737	up 49
38	Catherine	14,502	up 4
39	Agnes	14,429	up 12
40	Carrie	14,276	down 18
41	Lillie	14,093	down 2
42	Mildred	13,792	not top 100 in 1880s
43	Gladys	13,622	not top 100 in 1880s
44	Irene	13,621	up 32
45	Julia	13,448	down 9
46	Hattie	12,909	down 13
47	Cora	12,880	down 24
48	Lena	12,491	down 4
49	Josephine	12,463	down 2
50	Mattie	12,449	down 16
51	Jennie	11,876	down 19
52	Jessie	11,870	down 12
53	Maude	11,304	down 28
54	Alma	11,184	up 13
55	Mae	10,918	up 8
56	Blanche	10,860	down 3
57	Dorothy	10,846	not top 100 in 1880s
58	Ada	10,379	down 12
59	Lucy	10,323	down 10
60	Lula	10,238	down 17
61	Mamie	10,085	down 4
62	Fannie	9,898	down 14
63	Stella	9,807	down 4
64	Katherine	9,408	down 10
65	Viola	9,386	up 16
66	Ruby	8,699	not top 100 in 1880s
67	Dora	8,684	down 17
68	Maggie	8,607	down 16
69	Nora	8,293	down 13
70	Rosa	7,881	down 12
71	Beatrice	7,500	not top 100 in 1880s
72	Ellen	7,435	down 8
73	Sadie	7,398	down 3
74	Marion	7,310	not top 100 in 1880s
75	Willie	7,109	up 14
76	Effie	6,961	down 14
77	May	6,880	down 16
78	Beulah	6,785	not top 100 in 1880s
79	Pauline	6,635	not top 100 in 1880s
80	Nettie	6,538	down 15
81	Susie	6,530	down 8
82	Della	6,410	down 14
83	Vera	6,377	not top 100 in 1880s
84	Marguerite	6,376	not top 100 in 1880s
85	Daisy	6,249	down 25
86	Lydia	5,942	down 7
87	Virginia	5,864	not top 100 in 1880s
88	Olive	5,713	same
89	Kathryn	5,653	up 5
90	Evelyn	5,648	not top 100 in 1880s
91	Sallie	5,580	down 20
92	Lizzie	5,556	down 23
93	Lottie	5,499	down 13
94	Emily	5,476	down 3
95	Georgia	5,445	down 10
96	Flora	5,442	down 21
97	Nancy	5,346	down 25
98	Katie	5,178	down 20
99	Lucille	5,105	not top 100 in 1880s
100	Leona	5,083	not top 100 in 1880s

Top boys' names, 1890–1899
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1880s
1	John	80,664	same
2	William	72,244	same
3	James	50,723	same
4	George	43,358	same
5	Charles	36,848	same
6	Joseph	29,000	up 1
7	Frank	28,718	down 1
8	Robert	26,147	up 1
9	Edward	22,033	up 2
10	Henry	21,664	down 2
11	Harry	21,330	up 1
12	Thomas	21,115	down 2
13	Walter	19,495	same
14	Arthur	16,349	same
15	Fred	14,270	same
16	Albert	13,753	same
17	Clarence	11,901	up 1
18	Willie	9,849	up 12
19	Roy	9,779	up 6
20	Louis	8,442	down 1
21	Earl	8,297	up 15
22	Paul	8,181	up 22
23	Carl	8,047	up 10
24	Ernest	7,877	same
25	Samuel	7,857	down 8
26	Raymond	7,572	up 31
27	Richard	7,572	down 4
28	Joe	7,482	down 7
29	David	7,333	down 9
30	Charlie	7,261	down 8
31	Harold	7,018	up 53
32	Ralph	6,951	up 10
33	Howard	5,949	up 7
34	Andrew	5,719	down 7
35	Herbert	5,660	up 8
36	Elmer	5,647	up 2
37	Oscar	5,612	down 8
38	Jesse	5,396	down 10
39	Alfred	5,373	down 4
40	Will	5,210	down 14
41	Daniel	5,185	down 10
42	Sam	4,941	down 8
43	Leo	4,691	up 38
44	Jack	4,635	up 22
45	Lawrence	4,597	up 18
46	Francis	4,535	up 9
47	Benjamin	4,460	down 15
48	Lee	4,384	down 3
49	Eugene	4,303	up 5
50	Herman	4,232	down 3
51	Peter	4,028	down 14
52	Frederick	3,994	down 13
53	Floyd	3,957	up 18
54	Michael	3,926	down 4
55	Ray	3,763	up 18
56	Lewis	3,699	down 15
57	Claude	3,636	down 5
58	Clyde	3,625	up 1
59	Edwin	3,505	up 1
60	Tom	3,335	down 14
61	Martin	3,254	down 13
62	Leonard	3,166	up 18
63	Ben	3,156	down 10
64	Chester	3,021	up 1
65	Edgar	2,982	down 4
66	Jim	2,841	down 15
67	Harvey	2,822	down 9
68	Russell	2,780	not top 100 in 1880s
69	Lester	2,702	not top 100 in 1880s
70	Clifford	2,701	up 27
71	Luther	2,668	down 3
72	Homer	2,637	up 6
73	Jacob	2,551	down 24
74	Leroy	2,544	up 22
75	Otto	2,543	down 8
76	Guy	2,487	down 6
77	Lloyd	2,480	not top 100 in 1880s
78	Anthony	2,453	up 15
79	Jessie	2,424	up 7
80	Hugh	2,405	down 6
81	Ed	2,346	down 19
82	Bernard	2,315	up 10
83	Theodore	2,300	down 4
84	Stanley	2,297	not top 100 in 1880s
85	Eddie	2,284	up 13
86	Patrick	2,233	down 9
87	Philip	2,147	up 1
88	Leon	2,103	not top 100 in 1880s
89	Archie	2,068	down 2
90	Leslie	2,063	not top 100 in 1880s
91	Oliver	2,035	down 15
92	Allen	2,002	down 7
93	Alexander	1,954	down 11
94	Dewey	1,921	not top 100 in 1880s
95	Ira	1,916	down 23
96	Everett	1,902	not top 100 in 1880s
97	Norman	1,891	not top 100 in 1880s
98	Horace	1,814	down 8
99	Victor	1,811	not top 100 in 1880s
100	Cecil	1,808	not top 100 in 1880s

Names that peaked in the 1890s

These were among the decade's top 1,000 and reached their highest share of babies in a year between 1890 and 1899. The year each one peaked is in brackets.

Girls

Florence (1893)
Ethel (1894)
Marie (1899)
Lillian (1898)
Edna (1893)
Grace (1890)
Mabel (1891)
Hazel (1897)
Gertrude (1896)
Pearl (1890)

Boys

Walter (1892)
Clarence (1895)
Roy (1897)
Earl (1894)
Ernest (1895)
Elmer (1897)
Herman (1893)
Floyd (1897)
Ray (1896)
Homer (1893)

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.