Most Popular Baby Names of 1897

In 1897, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 13,413 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 7,550. Mary held on to number one for a 18th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 18th year in a row.

Social Security counted 234,200 girls and 112,757 boys born in 1897 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,799 different girls' names and 1,229 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1897

Top girls' names, 1897
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1896
1	Mary	13,413	same
2	Anna	5,429	same
3	Helen	4,519	same
4	Margaret	4,146	same
5	Ruth	3,878	same
6	Elizabeth	3,442	up 1
7	Florence	3,369	up 1
8	Ethel	3,182	down 2
9	Marie	3,078	same
10	Emma	2,698	same
11	Lillian	2,683	same
12	Edna	2,567	up 1
13	Bertha	2,502	up 2
14	Grace	2,458	up 3
15	Clara	2,454	down 1
16	Alice	2,431	down 4
17	Bessie	2,407	up 1
18	Hazel	2,339	up 4
19	Rose	2,316	up 1
20	Annie	2,307	down 1
21	Minnie	2,284	down 5
22	Mabel	2,222	down 1
23	Gertrude	2,135	same
24	Ida	2,108	same
25	Pearl	2,076	same
26	Martha	1,990	same
27	Frances	1,975	up 1
28	Esther	1,911	down 1
29	Myrtle	1,833	up 1
30	Edith	1,823	down 1
31	Elsie	1,763	same
32	Gladys	1,737	up 1
33	Mildred	1,723	up 6
34	Sarah	1,713	up 1
35	Eva	1,709	down 3
36	Ella	1,708	same
37	Nellie	1,693	down 3
38	Irene	1,587	up 3
39	Laura	1,585	down 2
40	Agnes	1,579	down 2
41	Louise	1,563	up 1
42	Catherine	1,511	down 2
43	Dorothy	1,472	up 3
44	Lillie	1,401	down 1
45	Julia	1,380	down 1
46	Carrie	1,365	down 1
47	Josephine	1,267	up 3
48	Hattie	1,251	down 1
49	Cora	1,246	up 3
50	Lena	1,239	down 2
51	Alma	1,213	same
52	Jessie	1,191	up 5
53	Mattie	1,181	down 4
54	Mae	1,144	up 1
55	Blanche	1,092	down 1
56	Jennie	1,074	down 3
57	Ruby	1,025	up 9
58	Viola	1,017	up 4
59	Mamie	1,006	down 1
60	Marion	994	up 7
61	Lucy	984	down 2
62	Maude	984	down 6
63	Lula	971	up 1
64	Stella	966	down 4
65	Katherine	962	down 4
66	Ada	956	down 3
67	Fannie	956	down 2
68	Beatrice	942	up 2
69	Dora	862	down 1
70	Willie	818	up 6
71	Nora	812	same
72	Pauline	777	up 3
73	Vera	776	up 8
74	Rosa	770	same
75	Maggie	760	down 6
76	Sadie	757	down 4
77	Ellen	733	down 4
78	Marguerite	728	same
79	Effie	698	up 1
80	Evelyn	690	up 4
81	Beulah	688	down 4
82	Lucille	648	up 4
83	Lydia	642	up 8
84	Virginia	638	up 5
85	Susie	626	down 6
86	Daisy	624	down 3
87	Della	624	down 2
88	Emily	619	up 8
89	Leona	619	up 5
90	Nettie	614	down 3
91	May	595	down 9
92	Olive	583	down 2
93	Kathryn	570	down 5
94	Hilda	561	up 1
95	Eleanor	559	up 7
96	Nancy	553	up 2
97	Ann	545	up 8
98	Sallie	545	up 3
99	Lizzie	543	up 1
100	Theresa	533	up 8

Top boys' names, 1897
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1896
1	John	7,550	same
2	William	7,198	same
3	James	5,113	same
4	George	4,078	same
5	Charles	3,341	same
6	Joseph	2,827	same
7	Frank	2,726	same
8	Robert	2,701	same
9	Edward	2,121	same
10	Henry	1,994	same
11	Thomas	1,980	up 1
12	Walter	1,895	up 1
13	Harry	1,879	down 2
14	Arthur	1,647	same
15	Albert	1,377	same
16	Fred	1,301	same
17	Clarence	1,201	same
18	Willie	1,151	same
19	Roy	999	same
20	Paul	923	same
21	Harold	860	up 2
22	Raymond	837	up 2
23	Louis	831	down 1
24	Earl	829	down 3
25	Carl	828	same
26	Joe	798	up 1
27	Ernest	785	up 2
28	Samuel	759	up 3
29	David	730	down 1
30	Charlie	714	up 2
31	Richard	702	down 5
32	Ralph	697	down 2
33	Howard	634	same
34	Elmer	587	up 2
35	Herbert	565	down 1
36	Andrew	555	up 1
37	Oscar	543	up 4
38	Jesse	529	down 3
39	Daniel	520	down 1
40	Alfred	513	up 2
41	Lawrence	505	up 5
42	Jack	497	down 2
43	Francis	496	down 4
44	Will	491	same
45	Sam	478	down 2
46	Leo	462	up 1
47	Lee	453	up 1
48	Floyd	451	up 7
49	Eugene	447	down 4
50	Herman	412	down 1
51	Peter	397	up 1
52	Ray	397	down 2
53	Edwin	380	up 6
54	Benjamin	378	down 3
55	Lewis	378	up 1
56	Frederick	369	up 1
57	Michael	368	down 4
58	Clyde	359	same
59	Claude	345	down 5
60	Martin	312	up 1
61	Leonard	310	down 1
62	Lester	310	up 3
63	Tom	298	down 1
64	Russell	295	same
65	Ben	291	up 4
66	Leroy	291	up 6
67	Chester	290	down 4
68	Clifford	285	down 2
69	Edgar	278	down 1
70	Homer	278	up 9
71	Luther	271	up 3
72	Harvey	268	down 2
73	Eddie	263	up 3
74	Lloyd	258	down 7
75	Jim	252	down 4
76	Anthony	249	down 3
77	Stanley	240	up 1
78	Bernard	234	up 4
79	Jessie	234	up 10
80	Otto	234	same
81	Leon	229	up 5
82	Allen	226	up 9
83	Leslie	222	up 2
84	Cecil	216	up 13
85	Theodore	215	down 1
86	Hugh	213	down 11
87	Patrick	210	up 6
88	Jacob	204	down 5
89	Philip	200	up 3
90	Ed	198	down 9
91	Norman	197	up 13
92	Donald	195	up 2
93	Guy	195	down 16
94	Stephen	194	up 19
95	Archie	190	down 7
96	Victor	190	same
97	Alvin	186	up 5
98	Percy	183	up 19
99	Ira	180	up 2
100	Everett	179	down 10

Biggest climbers in 1897

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1896.

Girls

Norine: up 348 places, from 987th to 639th
Joe: up 341 places, from 975th to 634th
Pollie: up 334 places, from 990th to 656th
Amie: up 333 places, from 872nd to 539th
Francisca: up 332 places, from 918th to 586th
Almira: up 310 places, from 954th to 644th
Zada: up 305 places, from 871st to 566th
Beaulah: up 297 places, from 958th to 661st
Maxine: up 280 places, from 890th to 610th
Rosalia: up 255 places, from 835th to 580th

Boys

Pierre: up 409 places, from 879th to 470th
Alford: up 406 places, from 901st to 495th
Lamar: up 400 places, from 938th to 538th
Mervin: up 375 places, from 947th to 572nd
Miguel: up 375 places, from 948th to 573rd
Essie: up 364 places, from 925th to 561st
Son: up 341 places, from 888th to 547th
Reese: up 340 places, from 884th to 544th
Hamilton: up 337 places, from 931st to 594th
Alpha: up 332 places, from 984th to 652nd

New to the top 1,000 in 1897

Girls

Lonnie, 605th (back after dropping out)
Nevada, 693rd (back after dropping out)
Sigrid, 697th (back after dropping out)
Charles, 702nd (back after dropping out)
Gusta, 726th (back after dropping out)
Nonie, 753rd (back after dropping out)
Christie, 764th (back after dropping out)
Cleora, 765th (back after dropping out)
Eldora, 768th (back after dropping out)
Felicia, 771st (back after dropping out)

Boys

Roswell, 490th (back after dropping out)
Theron, 513th (back after dropping out)
Helmer, 528th (back after dropping out)
Murphy, 575th (back after dropping out)
Gale, 591st (back after dropping out)
Harve, 595th (back after dropping out)
Odell, 607th (back after dropping out)
Alois, 616th (back after dropping out)
Rush, 643rd (back after dropping out)
Arnett, 653rd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1897?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.1% of the girls counted in 1897, 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.