Most Popular Baby Names of 1898

In 1898, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 14,406 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,159. Mary held on to number one for a 19th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 19th year in a row.

Social Security counted 258,769 girls and 122,685 boys born in 1898 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,975 different girls' names and 1,289 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1898

Top girls' names, 1898
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1897
1	Mary	14,406	same
2	Anna	5,773	same
3	Helen	5,230	same
4	Margaret	4,696	same
5	Ruth	4,249	same
6	Florence	3,790	up 1
7	Elizabeth	3,659	down 1
8	Ethel	3,531	same
9	Marie	3,435	same
10	Lillian	3,061	up 1
11	Alice	2,846	up 5
12	Edna	2,813	same
13	Emma	2,788	down 3
14	Clara	2,731	up 1
15	Grace	2,726	down 1
16	Bessie	2,647	up 1
17	Bertha	2,642	down 4
18	Annie	2,470	up 2
19	Hazel	2,439	down 1
20	Rose	2,436	down 1
21	Minnie	2,409	same
22	Frances	2,379	up 5
23	Mabel	2,331	down 1
24	Gertrude	2,302	down 1
25	Martha	2,184	up 1
26	Pearl	2,158	down 1
27	Gladys	2,136	up 5
28	Mildred	2,101	up 5
29	Ida	2,090	down 5
30	Myrtle	2,090	down 1
31	Esther	2,047	down 3
32	Edith	1,981	down 2
33	Elsie	1,919	down 2
34	Irene	1,902	up 4
35	Eva	1,823	same
36	Nellie	1,810	up 1
37	Sarah	1,800	down 3
38	Laura	1,768	up 1
39	Ella	1,715	down 3
40	Agnes	1,708	same
41	Catherine	1,705	up 1
42	Louise	1,693	down 1
43	Dorothy	1,671	same
44	Lillie	1,522	same
45	Julia	1,462	same
46	Josephine	1,425	up 1
47	Carrie	1,371	down 1
48	Hattie	1,328	same
49	Lena	1,320	up 1
50	Mattie	1,314	up 3
51	Cora	1,304	down 2
52	Alma	1,299	down 1
53	Viola	1,272	up 5
54	Blanche	1,269	up 1
55	Jessie	1,244	down 3
56	Mae	1,239	down 2
57	Jennie	1,194	down 1
58	Ruby	1,191	down 1
59	Lucy	1,144	up 2
60	Beatrice	1,122	up 8
61	Fannie	1,085	up 6
62	Marion	1,085	down 2
63	Mamie	1,084	down 4
64	Lula	1,069	down 1
65	Stella	1,062	down 1
66	Ada	1,022	same
67	Maude	1,009	down 5
68	Dora	929	up 1
69	Katherine	914	down 4
70	Pauline	900	up 2
71	Willie	878	down 1
72	Maggie	876	up 3
73	Vera	876	same
74	Nora	868	down 3
75	Rosa	841	down 1
76	Evelyn	836	up 4
77	Sadie	808	down 1
78	Virginia	801	up 6
79	Marguerite	800	down 1
80	Lucille	795	up 2
81	Ellen	786	down 4
82	Beulah	783	down 1
83	Effie	714	down 4
84	Daisy	712	up 2
85	Susie	702	same
86	May	696	up 5
87	Nettie	678	up 3
88	Lydia	677	down 5
89	Kathryn	671	up 4
90	Leona	665	down 1
91	Della	656	down 4
92	Georgia	654	up 9
93	Olive	644	down 1
94	Emily	628	down 6
95	Eleanor	620	same
96	Bernice	619	up 7
97	Hilda	610	down 3
98	Flora	607	up 8
99	Thelma	605	up 18
100	Sallie	598	down 2

Top boys' names, 1898
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1897
1	John	8,159	same
2	William	7,400	same
3	James	5,321	same
4	George	4,853	same
5	Charles	3,557	same
6	Joseph	3,171	same
7	Robert	2,932	up 1
8	Frank	2,925	down 1
9	Edward	2,337	same
10	Thomas	2,161	up 1
11	Henry	2,145	down 1
12	Harry	2,129	up 1
13	Walter	2,002	down 1
14	Arthur	1,619	same
15	Fred	1,447	up 1
16	Albert	1,417	down 1
17	Clarence	1,326	same
18	Willie	1,134	same
19	Dewey	1,115	up 92
20	Roy	1,049	down 1
21	Paul	991	down 1
22	Harold	963	down 1
23	Raymond	929	down 1
24	Carl	919	up 1
25	Earl	883	down 1
26	Richard	871	up 5
27	Louis	861	down 4
28	Ernest	839	down 1
29	Joe	827	down 3
30	David	815	down 1
31	Ralph	803	up 1
32	Samuel	749	down 4
33	Charlie	728	down 3
34	Herbert	716	up 1
35	Howard	706	down 2
36	Alfred	645	up 4
37	Jack	633	up 5
38	Andrew	611	down 2
39	Leo	588	up 7
40	Elmer	583	down 6
41	Oscar	546	down 4
42	Sam	543	up 3
43	Francis	541	same
44	Lawrence	533	down 3
45	Daniel	523	down 6
46	Lee	498	up 1
47	Jesse	476	down 9
48	Will	475	down 4
49	Eugene	473	same
50	Herman	467	same
51	Floyd	434	down 3
52	Michael	434	up 5
53	Leonard	421	up 8
54	Peter	409	down 3
55	Benjamin	405	down 1
56	Ray	394	down 4
57	Edwin	391	down 4
58	Clyde	383	same
59	Claude	371	same
60	Frederick	368	down 4
61	Russell	359	up 3
62	Lewis	352	down 7
63	Martin	339	down 3
64	Tom	337	down 1
65	Anthony	325	up 11
66	Chester	321	up 1
67	Clifford	317	up 1
68	Leroy	315	down 2
69	Ben	310	down 4
70	Lester	298	down 8
71	Stanley	295	up 6
72	Edgar	285	down 3
73	Bernard	284	up 5
74	Harvey	284	down 2
75	Theodore	281	up 10
76	Luther	275	down 5
77	Jim	269	down 2
78	Jessie	267	up 1
79	Lloyd	265	down 5
80	Otto	259	same
81	Eddie	256	down 8
82	Jacob	256	up 6
83	Leon	251	down 2
84	Hugh	250	up 2
85	Homer	246	down 15
86	Philip	244	up 3
87	Cecil	243	down 3
88	Donald	238	up 4
89	Ed	228	up 1
90	Leslie	228	down 7
91	Milton	225	up 15
92	Archie	222	up 3
93	Patrick	219	down 6
94	Guy	215	down 1
95	Everett	212	up 5
96	Norman	207	down 5
97	Victor	205	down 1
98	Ira	195	up 1
99	Stephen	195	down 5
100	Kenneth	191	up 5

Biggest climbers in 1898

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1897.

Girls

Dewey: up 599 places, from 904th to 305th
Prudence: up 341 places, from 970th to 629th
Garnett: up 261 places, from 945th to 684th
Velva: up 259 places, from 977th to 718th
Lea: up 258 places, from 849th to 591st
Hildred: up 254 places, from 727th to 473rd
Nadine: up 250 places, from 857th to 607th
Cathrine: up 247 places, from 900th to 653rd
Juliette: up 241 places, from 843rd to 602nd
Justine: up 221 places, from 954th to 733rd

Boys

Fitzhugh: up 622 places, from 988th to 366th
Enos: up 523 places, from 981st to 458th
Gertrude: up 405 places, from 992nd to 587th
Golden: up 392 places, from 885th to 493rd
Billy: up 374 places, from 952nd to 578th
Salvatore: up 330 places, from 777th to 447th
Evans: up 318 places, from 809th to 491st
Gail: up 314 places, from 991st to 677th
West: up 309 places, from 850th to 541st
Laura: up 303 places, from 895th to 592nd

New to the top 1,000 in 1898

Girls

Manila, 306th (its first time ever)
Manilla, 536th (its first time ever)
Grayce, 548th (back after dropping out)
Cuba, 597th (its first time ever)
Claudine, 621st (back after dropping out)
Lorine, 657th (back after dropping out)
Ouida, 674th (back after dropping out)
Vennie, 677th (back after dropping out)
Rosamond, 692nd (back after dropping out)
Fronie, 705th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Hobson, 311th (its first time ever)
Admiral, 394th (its first time ever)
Carson, 525th (back after dropping out)
Oakley, 534th (back after dropping out)
Annie, 574th (back after dropping out)
Ernst, 586th (back after dropping out)
Hampton, 589th (back after dropping out)
Myles, 594th (back after dropping out)
Shafter, 604th (its first time ever)
Wheeler, 608th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1898?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20% of the girls counted in 1898, and the top ten boys' names to 34.9% 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.