Most Popular Baby Names of 1899

In 1899, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 13,172 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 6,990. Mary held on to number one for a 20th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 20th year in a row.

Social Security counted 233,022 girls and 106,211 boys born in 1899 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 1,842 different girls' names and 1,200 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1899

Top girls' names, 1899
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1898
1	Mary	13,172	same
2	Anna	5,115	same
3	Helen	5,048	same
4	Margaret	4,249	same
5	Ruth	3,912	same
6	Florence	3,314	same
7	Elizabeth	3,287	same
8	Marie	3,156	up 1
9	Ethel	2,999	down 1
10	Lillian	2,703	same
11	Edna	2,534	up 1
12	Alice	2,523	down 1
13	Emma	2,445	same
14	Clara	2,441	same
15	Grace	2,353	same
16	Bertha	2,294	up 1
17	Mildred	2,291	up 11
18	Annie	2,289	same
19	Bessie	2,280	down 3
20	Gladys	2,228	up 7
21	Rose	2,197	down 1
22	Mabel	2,127	up 1
23	Gertrude	2,110	up 1
24	Frances	2,058	down 2
25	Minnie	2,036	down 4
26	Hazel	2,033	down 7
27	Pearl	1,999	down 1
28	Martha	1,907	down 3
29	Esther	1,823	up 2
30	Myrtle	1,821	same
31	Ida	1,804	down 2
32	Edith	1,794	same
33	Elsie	1,706	same
34	Irene	1,703	same
35	Dorothy	1,687	up 8
36	Catherine	1,628	up 5
37	Agnes	1,611	up 3
38	Sarah	1,587	down 1
39	Eva	1,582	down 4
40	Louise	1,536	up 2
41	Nellie	1,510	down 5
42	Ella	1,502	down 3
43	Laura	1,472	down 5
44	Josephine	1,388	up 2
45	Lillie	1,350	down 1
46	Carrie	1,346	up 1
47	Julia	1,297	down 2
48	Mattie	1,171	up 2
49	Lena	1,159	same
50	Viola	1,156	up 3
51	Alma	1,146	up 1
52	Ruby	1,103	up 6
53	Hattie	1,087	down 5
54	Jessie	1,081	up 1
55	Blanche	1,063	down 1
56	Beatrice	1,061	up 4
57	Jennie	1,061	same
58	Cora	1,056	down 7
59	Mae	1,035	down 3
60	Lucy	1,018	down 1
61	Ada	984	up 5
62	Stella	975	up 3
63	Marion	973	down 1
64	Mamie	966	down 1
65	Katherine	942	up 4
66	Maude	908	up 1
67	Lula	894	down 3
68	Fannie	886	down 7
69	Vera	864	up 4
70	Maggie	814	up 2
71	Lucille	812	up 9
72	Pauline	811	down 2
73	Willie	806	down 2
74	Evelyn	802	up 2
75	Virginia	776	up 3
76	Beulah	770	up 6
77	Rosa	765	down 2
78	Thelma	736	up 21
79	Dora	718	down 11
80	Nora	709	down 6
81	Ellen	708	same
82	Sadie	705	down 5
83	Marguerite	693	down 4
84	Leona	665	up 6
85	Daisy	660	down 1
86	Susie	622	down 1
87	Hilda	621	up 10
88	Kathryn	621	up 1
89	Nettie	611	down 2
90	Effie	597	down 7
91	Della	595	same
92	Ann	586	up 9
93	Lottie	584	up 9
94	Eleanor	575	up 1
95	May	571	down 9
96	Emily	569	down 2
97	Lydia	566	down 9
98	Olive	565	down 5
99	Georgia	553	down 7
100	Sallie	544	same

Top boys' names, 1899
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1898
1	John	6,990	same
2	William	6,086	same
3	James	4,597	same
4	George	4,018	same
5	Charles	3,147	same
6	Joseph	2,679	same
7	Robert	2,609	same
8	Frank	2,550	same
9	Edward	1,901	same
10	Henry	1,831	up 1
11	Thomas	1,811	down 1
12	Walter	1,750	up 1
13	Harry	1,732	down 1
14	Arthur	1,357	same
15	Albert	1,210	up 1
16	Fred	1,182	down 1
17	Clarence	1,139	same
18	Willie	1,088	same
19	Harold	914	up 3
20	Roy	912	same
21	Paul	885	same
22	Raymond	869	up 1
23	Earl	821	up 2
24	Joe	780	up 5
25	Carl	774	down 1
26	Louis	770	up 1
27	Ernest	744	up 1
28	Richard	744	down 2
29	Ralph	742	up 2
30	Samuel	704	up 2
31	Charlie	678	up 2
32	David	646	down 2
33	Herbert	590	up 1
34	Howard	589	up 1
35	Jack	582	up 2
36	Andrew	578	up 2
37	Elmer	514	up 3
38	Francis	501	up 5
39	Dewey	499	down 20
40	Lawrence	497	up 4
41	Alfred	496	down 5
42	Daniel	485	up 3
43	Leo	482	down 4
44	Sam	469	down 2
45	Eugene	449	up 4
46	Oscar	447	down 5
47	Jesse	423	same
48	Will	414	same
49	Herman	413	up 1
50	Lee	388	down 4
51	Michael	375	up 1
52	Floyd	356	down 1
53	Peter	354	up 1
54	Lewis	352	up 8
55	Frederick	350	up 5
56	Russell	338	up 5
57	Benjamin	335	down 2
58	Clyde	330	same
59	Edwin	329	down 2
60	Leonard	321	down 7
61	Ray	315	down 5
62	Clifford	297	up 5
63	Claude	293	down 4
64	Anthony	291	up 1
65	Lester	290	up 5
66	Chester	288	same
67	Tom	288	down 3
68	Lloyd	287	up 11
69	Leroy	269	down 1
70	Jessie	261	up 8
71	Jim	261	up 6
72	Martin	260	down 9
73	Ben	259	down 4
74	Donald	258	up 14
75	Eddie	258	up 6
76	Stanley	258	down 5
77	Cecil	256	up 10
78	Theodore	252	down 3
79	Harvey	251	down 5
80	Edgar	249	down 8
81	Luther	248	down 5
82	Homer	239	up 3
83	Norman	223	up 13
84	Philip	223	up 2
85	Bernard	222	down 12
86	Patrick	221	up 7
87	Kenneth	214	up 13
88	Hugh	209	down 4
89	Milton	207	up 2
90	Guy	200	up 4
91	Allen	191	up 12
92	Jacob	189	down 10
93	Leon	188	down 10
94	Otis	185	up 13
95	Everett	181	same
96	Leslie	181	down 6
97	Alexander	178	up 9
98	Stephen	178	up 1
99	Archie	177	down 7
100	Victor	175	down 3

Biggest climbers in 1899

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1898.

Girls

Veva: up 549 places, from 962nd to 413th
Alida: up 371 places, from 964th to 593rd
Filomena: up 365 places, from 936th to 571st
Queenie: up 315 places, from 954th to 639th
Leda: up 302 places, from 993rd to 691st
Gay: up 288 places, from 898th to 610th
Kay: up 288 places, from 942nd to 654th
Edwina: up 274 places, from 852nd to 578th
Martina: up 273 places, from 807th to 534th
Henriette: up 268 places, from 982nd to 714th

Boys

Thaddeus: up 555 places, from 991st to 436th
Roosevelt: up 485 places, from 876th to 391st
Rocco: up 458 places, from 975th to 517th
Keith: up 413 places, from 945th to 532nd
Isidore: up 405 places, from 934th to 529th
Ottis: up 395 places, from 868th to 473rd
Pablo: up 393 places, from 968th to 575th
Hallie: up 364 places, from 927th to 563rd
Lacy: up 336 places, from 850th to 514th
Wright: up 336 places, from 883rd to 547th

New to the top 1,000 in 1899

Girls

Odie, 522nd (back after dropping out)
Johnie, 585th (back after dropping out)
Elvie, 633rd (back after dropping out)
Antonette, 683rd (back after dropping out)
Ardis, 729th (its first time ever)
Delores, 734th (its first time ever)
Fae, 736th (back after dropping out)
Freeda, 737th (back after dropping out)
Irva, 739th (its first time ever)
Tula, 755th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Giles, 464th (back after dropping out)
Rogers, 497th (back after dropping out)
Edna, 526th (back after dropping out)
Ivory, 530th (back after dropping out)
Emmit, 562nd (back after dropping out)
Madison, 571st (back after dropping out)
Butler, 585th (back after dropping out)
Maxie, 601st (back after dropping out)
Pierre, 605th (back after dropping out)
Armand, 619th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1899?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.2% of the girls counted in 1899, and the top ten boys' names to 34.3% 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.