Most Popular Baby Names of 1896

In 1896, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 13,811 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,138. Mary held on to number one for a 17th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 17th year in a row.

Social Security counted 237,918 girls and 119,565 boys born in 1896 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,825 different girls' names and 1,266 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1896

Top girls' names, 1896
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1895
1	Mary	13,811	same
2	Anna	5,860	same
3	Helen	4,392	same
4	Margaret	4,050	same
5	Ruth	3,905	up 1
6	Ethel	3,502	up 2
7	Elizabeth	3,471	down 2
8	Florence	3,323	down 1
9	Marie	3,087	same
10	Emma	2,872	same
11	Lillian	2,702	up 5
12	Alice	2,651	up 5
13	Edna	2,604	up 1
14	Clara	2,582	down 2
15	Bertha	2,565	down 4
16	Minnie	2,530	down 3
17	Grace	2,485	up 1
18	Bessie	2,435	down 3
19	Annie	2,358	same
20	Rose	2,341	up 1
21	Mabel	2,283	down 1
22	Hazel	2,226	same
23	Gertrude	2,221	up 1
24	Ida	2,159	down 1
25	Pearl	2,101	up 1
26	Martha	2,022	down 1
27	Esther	1,964	up 4
28	Frances	1,964	up 1
29	Edith	1,932	down 2
30	Myrtle	1,928	down 2
31	Elsie	1,878	up 1
32	Eva	1,779	up 2
33	Gladys	1,757	up 8
34	Nellie	1,696	down 4
35	Sarah	1,691	down 2
36	Ella	1,683	down 1
37	Laura	1,665	down 1
38	Agnes	1,654	up 2
39	Mildred	1,620	same
40	Catherine	1,594	down 2
41	Irene	1,593	up 2
42	Louise	1,531	down 5
43	Lillie	1,483	up 1
44	Julia	1,407	up 1
45	Carrie	1,388	down 3
46	Dorothy	1,366	up 11
47	Hattie	1,320	down 1
48	Lena	1,318	up 2
49	Mattie	1,288	up 2
50	Josephine	1,256	down 3
51	Alma	1,243	up 4
52	Cora	1,204	down 3
53	Jennie	1,178	same
54	Blanche	1,150	same
55	Mae	1,148	down 3
56	Maude	1,104	same
57	Jessie	1,103	down 9
58	Mamie	1,081	up 1
59	Lucy	1,074	up 2
60	Stella	1,054	same
61	Katherine	1,047	up 4
62	Viola	1,047	up 1
63	Ada	1,041	down 5
64	Lula	1,012	same
65	Fannie	1,001	down 3
66	Ruby	994	same
67	Marion	987	up 2
68	Dora	874	same
69	Maggie	871	down 2
70	Beatrice	870	up 3
71	Nora	844	down 1
72	Sadie	827	same
73	Ellen	811	up 2
74	Rosa	808	down 3
75	Pauline	756	up 1
76	Willie	755	up 2
77	Beulah	750	down 3
78	Marguerite	725	up 3
79	Susie	718	up 4
80	Effie	716	down 1
81	Vera	675	down 4
82	May	671	down 2
83	Daisy	661	up 1
84	Evelyn	646	up 3
85	Della	642	up 1
86	Lucille	637	up 15
87	Nettie	628	down 5
88	Kathryn	625	up 2
89	Virginia	621	down 1
90	Olive	583	up 1
91	Lydia	580	down 6
92	Lottie	574	up 3
93	Georgia	562	up 1
94	Leona	556	up 8
95	Hilda	549	up 9
96	Emily	527	down 7
97	Flora	527	down 1
98	Nancy	527	down 5
99	Katie	516	up 1
100	Lizzie	508	down 1

Top boys' names, 1896
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1895
1	John	8,138	same
2	William	7,747	same
3	James	5,206	same
4	George	4,286	same
5	Charles	3,639	same
6	Joseph	3,051	up 1
7	Frank	2,845	down 1
8	Robert	2,719	same
9	Edward	2,296	up 1
10	Henry	2,183	down 1
11	Harry	2,091	up 1
12	Thomas	2,088	down 1
13	Walter	2,017	same
14	Arthur	1,821	same
15	Albert	1,434	up 1
16	Fred	1,393	down 1
17	Clarence	1,254	same
18	Willie	1,092	same
19	Roy	1,027	same
20	Paul	964	same
21	Earl	892	up 2
22	Louis	871	down 1
23	Harold	862	up 6
24	Raymond	859	up 2
25	Carl	852	down 3
26	Richard	834	up 5
27	Joe	767	up 1
28	David	765	up 4
29	Ernest	764	down 5
30	Ralph	746	same
31	Samuel	734	down 6
32	Charlie	714	down 5
33	Howard	677	same
34	Herbert	635	up 2
35	Jesse	586	same
36	Elmer	576	down 2
37	Andrew	566	same
38	Daniel	561	up 2
39	Francis	551	up 6
40	Jack	539	up 6
41	Oscar	539	down 2
42	Alfred	527	down 4
43	Sam	518	same
44	Will	508	same
45	Eugene	507	up 5
46	Lawrence	499	down 5
47	Leo	497	down 5
48	Lee	455	down 1
49	Herman	427	same
50	Ray	426	up 6
51	Benjamin	416	down 3
52	Peter	402	up 1
53	Michael	399	down 1
54	Claude	398	up 1
55	Floyd	396	down 4
56	Lewis	386	up 2
57	Frederick	381	down 3
58	Clyde	372	up 1
59	Edwin	351	up 1
60	Leonard	350	up 1
61	Martin	343	up 4
62	Tom	339	same
63	Chester	329	down 6
64	Russell	327	up 2
65	Lester	318	up 3
66	Clifford	311	up 6
67	Lloyd	308	up 8
68	Edgar	306	down 4
69	Ben	299	down 6
70	Harvey	292	same
71	Jim	281	same
72	Leroy	278	up 6
73	Anthony	276	up 13
74	Luther	265	down 1
75	Hugh	263	up 5
76	Eddie	262	up 9
77	Guy	262	down 1
78	Stanley	259	up 5
79	Homer	258	down 12
80	Otto	250	down 11
81	Ed	246	up 3
82	Bernard	241	down 5
83	Jacob	241	down 9
84	Theodore	241	up 9
85	Leslie	237	down 4
86	Leon	235	up 1
87	Alexander	232	up 10
88	Archie	230	up 1
89	Jessie	229	down 10
90	Everett	224	up 4
91	Allen	219	up 7
92	Philip	218	same
93	Patrick	214	down 11
94	Donald	211	up 2
95	Horace	204	down 5
96	Victor	201	up 3
97	Cecil	200	up 3
98	Milton	194	up 4
99	Oliver	194	down 11
100	Isaac	191	up 7

Biggest climbers in 1896

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1895.

Girls

Concetta: up 386 places, from 997th to 611th
Alfreda: up 343 places, from 896th to 553rd
Annabel: up 303 places, from 818th to 515th
Sula: up 291 places, from 976th to 685th
Malvina: up 280 places, from 884th to 604th
Reva: up 279 places, from 813th to 534th
Ocie: up 264 places, from 654th to 390th
Aimee: up 243 places, from 895th to 652nd
Freddie: up 238 places, from 797th to 559th
Delpha: up 234 places, from 1000th to 766th

Boys

Hobert: up 566 places, from 829th to 263rd
Price: up 507 places, from 961st to 454th
Bryant: up 506 places, from 887th to 381st
Jennings: up 475 places, from 766th to 291st
Abel: up 444 places, from 978th to 534th
Hunter: up 388 places, from 931st to 543rd
Hobart: up 387 places, from 515th to 128th
Adelbert: up 355 places, from 873rd to 518th
Ernie: up 352 places, from 916th to 564th
Alvie: up 341 places, from 876th to 535th

New to the top 1,000 in 1896

Girls

Marjory, 646th (back after dropping out)
Lea, 660th (back after dropping out)
Leo, 675th (back after dropping out)
Fairy, 691st (back after dropping out)
Lavada, 696th (back after dropping out)
Myrtice, 700th (back after dropping out)
Vira, 706th (back after dropping out)
Jo, 715th (back after dropping out)
Lexie, 718th (back after dropping out)
Myrta, 721st (back after dropping out)

Boys

Tomas, 479th (back after dropping out)
Justin, 511th (back after dropping out)
Bertrand, 520th (back after dropping out)
Hilliard, 524th (back after dropping out)
Cicero, 556th (back after dropping out)
Earley, 560th (back after dropping out)
Keith, 572nd (back after dropping out)
Rowland, 585th (back after dropping out)
Alphonso, 595th (back after dropping out)
Len, 612th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1896?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.3% of the girls counted in 1896, and the top ten boys' names to 35.2% 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.