Most Popular Baby Names of 1894

In 1894, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 13,151 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,237. Mary held on to number one for a 15th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 15th year in a row.

Social Security counted 222,922 girls and 115,768 boys born in 1894 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,702 different girls' names and 1,239 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1894

Top girls' names, 1894
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1893
1	Mary	13,151	same
2	Anna	5,565	same
3	Margaret	3,700	up 1
4	Helen	3,676	up 2
5	Elizabeth	3,425	same
6	Ruth	3,372	down 3
7	Ethel	3,287	up 1
8	Florence	3,233	down 1
9	Emma	2,937	same
10	Marie	2,649	up 9
11	Clara	2,603	same
12	Minnie	2,592	same
13	Bessie	2,520	up 2
14	Bertha	2,496	down 4
15	Edna	2,458	down 1
16	Lillian	2,441	up 4
17	Alice	2,414	down 4
18	Annie	2,393	down 1
19	Grace	2,361	down 3
20	Mabel	2,221	up 1
21	Ida	2,195	down 3
22	Rose	2,126	up 1
23	Hazel	2,103	down 1
24	Martha	1,968	up 1
25	Gertrude	1,908	down 1
26	Edith	1,820	up 4
27	Myrtle	1,818	up 2
28	Pearl	1,789	down 2
29	Frances	1,776	up 5
30	Nellie	1,767	down 3
31	Ella	1,761	down 3
32	Laura	1,730	down 1
33	Elsie	1,716	up 2
34	Sarah	1,701	down 1
35	Eva	1,673	down 3
36	Esther	1,654	up 3
37	Louise	1,571	same
38	Agnes	1,470	same
39	Carrie	1,452	down 3
40	Lillie	1,432	up 1
41	Catherine	1,430	up 1
42	Lena	1,360	up 4
43	Irene	1,347	up 8
44	Hattie	1,325	down 1
45	Julia	1,320	down 5
46	Cora	1,319	down 2
47	Gladys	1,258	up 11
48	Josephine	1,256	up 2
49	Mattie	1,238	down 2
50	Mildred	1,220	up 10
51	Jennie	1,210	down 6
52	Alma	1,177	up 2
53	Maude	1,144	down 4
54	Mae	1,134	down 1
55	Jessie	1,120	down 7
56	Blanche	1,091	down 4
57	Lucy	1,077	down 1
58	Dorothy	1,052	up 10
59	Mamie	1,043	same
60	Lula	1,042	down 3
61	Stella	1,035	up 2
62	Ada	1,018	down 7
63	Fannie	1,003	down 2
64	Katherine	948	down 2
65	Viola	906	up 1
66	Maggie	895	down 2
67	Ruby	874	up 4
68	Nora	854	down 1
69	Dora	827	down 4
70	Rosa	780	same
71	May	763	up 2
72	Ellen	759	down 3
73	Sadie	745	down 1
74	Effie	712	same
75	Willie	709	up 2
76	Beatrice	684	up 9
77	Della	681	down 1
78	Susie	679	same
79	Beulah	675	up 1
80	Pauline	656	up 6
81	Daisy	645	up 3
82	Nettie	630	down 7
83	Marguerite	624	down 4
84	Flora	619	up 5
85	Lydia	618	down 4
86	Vera	618	up 5
87	Lottie	597	up 5
88	Olive	589	down 6
89	Marion	587	up 4
90	Sallie	584	up 4
91	Virginia	583	up 6
92	Lizzie	562	down 9
93	Emily	551	up 2
94	Georgia	535	down 7
95	Katie	525	up 1
96	Kathryn	520	down 6
97	Etta	519	up 1
98	Nancy	515	down 10
99	Evelyn	491	up 5
100	Charlotte	484	same

Top boys' names, 1894
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1893
1	John	8,237	same
2	William	7,274	same
3	James	5,110	same
4	George	4,365	same
5	Charles	3,788	same
6	Joseph	2,977	same
7	Frank	2,863	same
8	Robert	2,497	same
9	Henry	2,278	up 2
10	Harry	2,189	same
11	Edward	2,179	down 2
12	Thomas	2,170	same
13	Walter	2,010	same
14	Arthur	1,712	same
15	Fred	1,475	same
16	Albert	1,447	same
17	Clarence	1,185	same
18	Roy	1,018	same
19	Willie	986	same
20	Earl	896	up 1
21	Louis	869	up 1
22	Carl	861	up 2
23	Paul	824	up 2
24	Ernest	821	down 1
25	Richard	808	up 1
26	Samuel	776	down 6
27	Raymond	767	up 2
28	Joe	741	same
29	David	729	down 2
30	Charlie	704	same
31	Ralph	692	same
32	Harold	690	up 2
33	Howard	612	up 2
34	Oscar	601	down 1
35	Andrew	594	up 5
36	Herbert	585	up 5
37	Elmer	575	down 5
38	Jesse	567	down 2
39	Will	559	down 2
40	Alfred	521	down 2
41	Daniel	515	down 2
42	Leo	515	up 3
43	Sam	507	same
44	Benjamin	469	down 2
45	Lee	455	up 1
46	Floyd	445	up 13
47	Jack	441	up 3
48	Herman	433	down 4
49	Lawrence	430	up 2
50	Francis	423	down 2
51	Michael	423	down 2
52	Eugene	421	up 1
53	Claude	419	down 1
54	Frederick	413	down 7
55	Peter	391	down 1
56	Clyde	386	down 1
57	Ray	379	down 1
58	Edwin	366	same
59	Lewis	359	down 2
60	Leonard	343	up 9
61	Tom	343	down 1
62	Ben	326	same
63	Chester	325	up 3
64	Edgar	313	down 1
65	Clifford	307	up 6
66	Martin	299	down 5
67	Harvey	293	up 1
68	Jacob	292	down 3
69	Lester	291	up 8
70	Jim	287	up 4
71	Luther	285	down 1
72	Russell	278	up 3
73	Homer	273	down 9
74	Otto	270	down 1
75	Hugh	269	up 3
76	Guy	261	down 4
77	Anthony	257	up 4
78	Bernard	256	up 6
79	Jessie	255	up 6
80	Lloyd	253	up 9
81	Ed	241	down 1
82	Theodore	241	up 8
83	Leroy	239	down 7
84	Leon	236	up 4
85	Patrick	229	down 6
86	Everett	226	up 23
87	Leslie	223	up 8
88	Oliver	222	down 2
89	Allen	219	up 10
90	Stanley	218	down 3
91	Philip	214	same
92	Archie	207	up 1
93	Ira	206	up 5
94	Eddie	203	down 12
95	Alexander	199	down 12
96	Norman	199	up 10
97	Horace	196	up 7
98	Bert	187	down 2
99	Charley	186	down 5
100	Victor	180	up 3

Biggest climbers in 1894

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1893.

Girls

Matie: up 394 places, from 999th to 605th
Joy: up 341 places, from 993rd to 652nd
Elna: up 299 places, from 875th to 576th
Freddie: up 298 places, from 876th to 578th
Izora: up 296 places, from 989th to 693rd
Flo: up 288 places, from 919th to 631st
Rubye: up 288 places, from 949th to 661st
Reta: up 285 places, from 819th to 534th
Leonie: up 280 places, from 934th to 654th
Audra: up 277 places, from 905th to 628th

Boys

Alvie: up 492 places, from 912th to 420th
Jason: up 417 places, from 799th to 382nd
Ronald: up 403 places, from 818th to 415th
Maude: up 401 places, from 986th to 585th
Lawson: up 350 places, from 802nd to 452nd
Graham: up 350 places, from 954th to 604th
Monte: up 335 places, from 992nd to 657th
Bennett: up 301 places, from 844th to 543rd
Dewey: up 300 places, from 786th to 486th
Olaf: up 299 places, from 813th to 514th

New to the top 1,000 in 1894

Girls

Veva, 608th (back after dropping out)
Rosalia, 624th (back after dropping out)
Versie, 662nd (its first time ever)
Maymie, 677th (back after dropping out)
Nadine, 680th (back after dropping out)
Henriette, 691st (back after dropping out)
Goldia, 704th (back after dropping out)
Nova, 714th (back after dropping out)
Sabina, 717th (back after dropping out)
Vivien, 718th (its first time ever)

Boys

Essie, 471st (back after dropping out)
Verner, 500th (back after dropping out)
Levy, 530th (back after dropping out)
Orrin, 534th (back after dropping out)
Vester, 540th (back after dropping out)
Reid, 559th (back after dropping out)
Howell, 578th (back after dropping out)
Jonnie, 581st (back after dropping out)
Alphonso, 594th (back after dropping out)
Audley, 595th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1894?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.2% of the girls counted in 1894, and the top ten boys' names to 35.9% 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.