Most Popular Baby Names of 1891

In 1891, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 11,704 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 7,680. Mary held on to number one for a 12th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 12th year in a row.

Social Security counted 185,482 girls and 101,191 boys born in 1891 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,533 different girls' names and 1,127 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1891

Top girls' names, 1891
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1890
1	Mary	11,704	same
2	Anna	5,099	same
3	Margaret	3,065	up 1
4	Elizabeth	3,059	down 1
5	Emma	2,884	same
6	Florence	2,716	same
7	Ethel	2,689	same
8	Minnie	2,428	same
9	Helen	2,417	up 3
10	Bertha	2,372	same
11	Clara	2,360	down 2
12	Bessie	2,323	down 1
13	Annie	2,096	up 2
14	Grace	2,088	down 1
15	Mabel	2,029	up 2
16	Alice	2,015	down 2
17	Ida	2,002	down 1
18	Edna	1,963	same
19	Ruth	1,857	up 27
20	Lillian	1,812	down 1
21	Martha	1,744	up 1
22	Rose	1,696	up 3
23	Ella	1,685	same
24	Sarah	1,669	down 3
25	Nellie	1,647	down 5
26	Gertrude	1,645	same
27	Pearl	1,605	down 3
28	Marie	1,596	same
29	Edith	1,509	up 1
30	Laura	1,509	down 3
31	Myrtle	1,458	up 3
32	Hazel	1,447	up 5
33	Eva	1,412	down 1
34	Frances	1,397	down 1
35	Cora	1,343	up 1
36	Carrie	1,342	down 7
37	Louise	1,333	down 6
38	Elsie	1,303	up 7
39	Lillie	1,247	down 4
40	Jennie	1,238	up 1
41	Catherine	1,219	up 3
42	Hattie	1,219	down 4
43	Julia	1,200	down 3
44	Maude	1,188	down 5
45	Lena	1,174	up 2
46	Mattie	1,165	down 4
47	Agnes	1,125	up 3
48	Jessie	1,119	down 5
49	Josephine	1,031	same
50	Lula	1,010	down 2
51	Ada	975	same
52	Irene	950	up 8
53	Lucy	944	same
54	Mae	933	up 4
55	Alma	929	up 2
56	Blanche	917	down 1
57	Fannie	916	down 5
58	Dora	870	up 4
59	Stella	867	down 3
60	Maggie	841	up 1
61	Mamie	830	down 7
62	Katherine	803	down 3
63	Nora	801	same
64	Mildred	761	up 7
65	Rosa	729	down 1
66	Esther	710	up 9
67	Effie	704	down 1
68	May	696	down 3
69	Ellen	675	up 1
70	Gladys	633	up 12
71	Nettie	620	down 4
72	Sadie	617	down 3
73	Viola	609	down 5
74	Della	607	down 2
75	Sallie	569	up 5
76	Dorothy	566	up 17
77	Susie	566	down 4
78	Willie	562	down 1
79	Daisy	557	down 3
80	Ruby	554	up 1
81	Beulah	526	down 2
82	Lizzie	525	down 8
83	Nancy	523	up 1
84	Marguerite	511	up 12
85	Olive	509	up 4
86	Lydia	507	down 8
87	Kathryn	504	up 4
88	Lottie	501	same
89	Flora	497	down 4
90	Katie	494	down 3
91	Beatrice	485	up 7
92	Addie	467	same
93	Pauline	455	down 3
94	Etta	452	up 1
95	Emily	444	down 9
96	Georgia	444	down 13
97	Virginia	439	up 3
98	Vera	426	up 5
99	Marion	413	up 7
100	Caroline	402	down 6

Top boys' names, 1891
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1890
1	John	7,680	same
2	William	6,763	same
3	James	4,516	same
4	George	3,931	same
5	Charles	3,640	same
6	Frank	2,652	same
7	Joseph	2,572	same
8	Robert	2,240	same
9	Harry	2,132	up 1
10	Henry	2,049	down 1
11	Edward	1,989	same
12	Thomas	1,982	same
13	Walter	1,668	same
14	Arthur	1,514	same
15	Fred	1,362	same
16	Albert	1,207	same
17	Clarence	1,007	same
18	Roy	838	same
19	Louis	786	same
20	Samuel	753	same
21	Willie	739	up 2
22	Ernest	715	same
23	Charlie	707	down 2
24	Carl	675	up 3
25	Earl	674	down 1
26	David	673	same
27	Richard	609	down 2
28	Ralph	587	up 4
29	Joe	584	down 1
30	Raymond	575	up 6
31	Paul	564	same
32	Oscar	551	down 3
33	Andrew	521	up 1
34	Will	520	down 4
35	Jesse	519	down 2
36	Elmer	508	up 2
37	Daniel	505	up 2
38	Herbert	501	up 4
39	Alfred	499	down 4
40	Howard	485	same
41	Benjamin	461	down 4
42	Harold	419	up 5
43	Sam	418	down 2
44	Frederick	412	down 1
45	Peter	396	same
46	Lawrence	389	up 6
47	Herman	383	up 3
48	Eugene	362	down 2
49	Ray	360	up 7
50	Lewis	357	up 1
51	Leo	353	down 2
52	Lee	342	down 8
53	Floyd	336	up 7
54	Francis	333	up 1
55	Michael	333	down 7
56	Martin	331	up 2
57	Claude	327	same
58	Clyde	327	up 6
59	Edwin	327	up 4
60	Tom	318	down 1
61	Ben	302	down 7
62	Jack	290	down 9
63	Jim	288	down 1
64	Edgar	277	down 3
65	Harvey	274	same
66	Otto	274	up 2
67	Guy	262	up 5
68	Chester	252	up 1
69	Jacob	238	down 3
70	Ed	237	same
71	Luther	236	same
72	Leonard	235	down 5
73	Hugh	233	up 7
74	Homer	230	up 3
75	Jessie	227	down 2
76	Theodore	224	up 13
77	Oliver	212	up 4
78	Patrick	212	down 3
79	Archie	201	same
80	Philip	198	up 8
81	Clifford	196	up 2
82	Charley	193	up 11
83	Lester	191	down 7
84	Leroy	190	down 10
85	Bernard	187	up 13
86	August	186	down 2
87	Russell	186	up 8
88	Lloyd	185	up 6
89	Bert	181	up 8
90	Eddie	179	down 4
91	Ira	179	down 9
92	Stanley	178	down 14
93	Everett	174	up 9
94	Allen	173	down 4
95	Alexander	172	down 10
96	Anthony	170	down 5
97	Horace	165	up 6
98	Leslie	164	down 2
99	Grover	163	same
100	Norman	163	up 8

Biggest climbers in 1891

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1890.

Girls

Lutie: up 440 places, from 913th to 473rd
Sybil: up 411 places, from 932nd to 521st
Nevada: up 405 places, from 988th to 583rd
Faith: up 389 places, from 887th to 498th
Ethelyn: up 361 places, from 961st to 600th
Berenice: up 339 places, from 948th to 609th
Theresia: up 335 places, from 1000th to 665th
Eudora: up 333 places, from 964th to 631st
Carmela: up 324 places, from 951st to 627th
Freida: up 321 places, from 771st to 450th

Boys

Colonel: up 510 places, from 911th to 401st
Hezekiah: up 503 places, from 938th to 435th
Hector: up 428 places, from 937th to 509th
Tillman: up 398 places, from 806th to 408th
Alfonso: up 398 places, from 998th to 600th
Willam: up 396 places, from 991st to 595th
Rollin: up 393 places, from 979th to 586th
Orlando: up 387 places, from 968th to 581st
Dana: up 366 places, from 824th to 458th
Wright: up 359 places, from 993rd to 634th

New to the top 1,000 in 1891

Girls

Annis, 608th (back after dropping out)
Glennie, 649th (back after dropping out)
Rachael, 660th (back after dropping out)
Zada, 668th (back after dropping out)
Zena, 694th (back after dropping out)
Aurora, 697th (back after dropping out)
Jo, 710th (back after dropping out)
Marvel, 716th (back after dropping out)
Elvie, 732nd (back after dropping out)
Sister, 745th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Roswell, 394th (back after dropping out)
Crawford, 445th (back after dropping out)
Sheridan, 492nd (its first time ever)
Hampton, 505th (back after dropping out)
Pinkney, 520th (back after dropping out)
Alois, 524th (back after dropping out)
Ellie, 530th (back after dropping out)
Jodie, 540th (back after dropping out)
Jordan, 542nd (back after dropping out)
Mahlon, 547th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1891?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.7% of the girls counted in 1891, and the top ten boys' names to 37.7% 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.