Most Popular Baby Names of 1900

In 1900, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 16,705 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 9,828. Mary held on to number one for a 21st year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 21st year in a row.

Social Security counted 299,784 girls and 150,474 boys born in 1900 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 2,223 different girls' names and 1,506 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1900

Top girls' names, 1900
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1899
1	Mary	16,705	same
2	Helen	6,342	up 1
3	Anna	6,114	down 1
4	Margaret	5,304	same
5	Ruth	4,765	same
6	Elizabeth	4,096	up 1
7	Florence	3,920	down 1
8	Ethel	3,896	up 1
9	Marie	3,856	down 1
10	Lillian	3,414	same
11	Annie	3,324	up 7
12	Edna	3,102	down 1
13	Emma	3,095	same
14	Alice	3,059	down 2
15	Bessie	3,044	up 4
16	Bertha	3,019	same
17	Grace	2,942	down 2
18	Rose	2,844	up 3
19	Clara	2,826	down 5
20	Mildred	2,800	down 3
21	Gladys	2,733	down 1
22	Minnie	2,673	up 3
23	Gertrude	2,580	same
24	Pearl	2,512	up 3
25	Mabel	2,509	down 3
26	Frances	2,495	down 2
27	Dorothy	2,491	up 8
28	Martha	2,437	same
29	Hazel	2,425	down 3
30	Ida	2,285	up 1
31	Irene	2,264	up 3
32	Myrtle	2,252	down 2
33	Eva	2,089	up 6
34	Catherine	2,081	up 2
35	Louise	2,070	up 5
36	Edith	2,068	down 4
37	Sarah	2,054	up 1
38	Elsie	2,045	down 5
39	Esther	2,017	down 10
40	Lillie	2,004	up 5
41	Agnes	1,914	down 4
42	Ella	1,911	same
43	Nellie	1,850	down 2
44	Mattie	1,834	up 4
45	Laura	1,824	down 2
46	Julia	1,766	up 1
47	Josephine	1,743	down 3
48	Carrie	1,711	down 2
49	Viola	1,674	up 1
50	Hattie	1,553	up 3
51	Ruby	1,540	up 1
52	Lena	1,506	down 3
53	Jessie	1,422	up 1
54	Mae	1,406	up 5
55	Cora	1,389	up 3
56	Beatrice	1,382	same
57	Alma	1,372	down 6
58	Willie	1,351	up 15
59	Mamie	1,337	up 5
60	Blanche	1,332	down 5
61	Lucy	1,246	down 1
62	Fannie	1,237	up 6
63	Lula	1,237	up 4
64	Jennie	1,204	down 7
65	Katherine	1,201	same
66	Marion	1,197	down 3
67	Lucille	1,182	up 4
68	Stella	1,177	down 6
69	Rosa	1,118	up 8
70	Evelyn	1,116	up 4
71	Pauline	1,104	up 1
72	Ada	1,101	down 11
73	Thelma	1,094	up 5
74	Virginia	1,068	up 1
75	Maggie	1,045	down 5
76	Vera	1,024	down 7
77	Maude	1,013	down 11
78	Beulah	974	down 2
79	Dora	958	same
80	Susie	947	up 6
81	Daisy	931	up 4
82	Ellen	922	down 1
83	Nora	919	down 3
84	Sadie	895	down 2
85	Leona	825	down 1
86	Marguerite	786	down 3
87	Georgia	765	up 12
88	Eleanor	753	up 6
89	Effie	752	up 1
90	Della	748	up 1
91	May	744	up 4
92	Ann	736	same
93	Kathryn	721	down 5
94	Nettie	711	down 5
95	Olive	705	up 3
96	Bernice	702	up 7
97	Lottie	690	down 4
98	Sallie	676	up 2
99	Nancy	673	up 8
100	Betty	665	up 19

Top boys' names, 1900
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1899
1	John	9,828	same
2	William	8,579	same
3	James	7,245	same
4	George	5,403	same
5	Charles	4,098	same
6	Robert	3,821	up 1
7	Joseph	3,714	down 1
8	Frank	3,477	same
9	Edward	2,720	same
10	Henry	2,606	same
11	Thomas	2,556	same
12	Walter	2,298	same
13	Harry	2,272	same
14	Willie	2,113	up 4
15	Arthur	1,853	down 1
16	Albert	1,741	down 1
17	Fred	1,646	down 1
18	Clarence	1,483	down 1
19	Paul	1,288	up 2
20	Harold	1,245	down 1
21	Roy	1,215	down 1
22	Joe	1,179	up 2
23	Raymond	1,150	down 1
24	Richard	1,141	up 4
25	Charlie	1,124	up 6
26	Louis	1,097	same
27	Jack	1,053	up 8
28	Earl	1,037	down 5
29	Carl	1,016	down 4
30	Ernest	1,012	down 3
31	Ralph	896	down 2
32	David	883	same
33	Samuel	877	down 3
34	Sam	821	up 10
35	Howard	779	down 1
36	Herbert	751	down 3
37	Andrew	718	down 1
38	Elmer	699	down 1
39	Lee	675	up 11
40	Lawrence	659	same
41	Francis	652	down 3
42	Alfred	640	down 1
43	Will	603	up 5
44	Daniel	598	down 2
45	Eugene	587	same
46	Leo	570	down 3
47	Oscar	563	down 1
48	Floyd	555	up 4
49	Herman	550	same
50	Jesse	536	down 3
51	Michael	495	same
52	Lewis	469	up 2
53	Tom	469	up 14
54	Leonard	465	up 6
55	Ray	457	up 6
56	Clyde	451	up 2
57	Benjamin	450	same
58	Peter	443	down 5
59	Claude	433	up 4
60	Lester	431	up 5
61	Theodore	429	up 17
62	Russell	427	down 6
63	Eddie	425	up 12
64	Frederick	420	down 9
65	Leroy	419	up 4
66	Clifford	409	down 4
67	Anthony	406	down 3
68	Jim	399	up 3
69	Jessie	398	up 1
70	Martin	383	up 2
71	Edgar	374	up 9
72	Chester	364	down 6
73	Ben	355	same
74	Edwin	350	down 15
75	Dewey	345	down 36
76	Cecil	344	up 1
77	Stanley	342	down 1
78	Lloyd	337	down 10
79	Donald	328	down 5
80	Homer	326	up 2
81	Harvey	322	down 2
82	Luther	316	down 1
83	Norman	316	same
84	Johnnie	313	up 29
85	Leon	310	up 8
86	Bernard	308	down 1
87	Ed	297	up 14
88	Hugh	290	same
89	Patrick	285	down 3
90	Kenneth	279	down 3
91	Leslie	275	up 5
92	Victor	269	up 8
93	Alexander	260	up 4
94	Philip	259	down 10
95	Oliver	256	up 14
96	Mack	250	up 14
97	Horace	244	up 8
98	Milton	242	down 9
99	Guy	240	down 9
100	Everett	237	down 5

Biggest climbers in 1900

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1899.

Girls

Janice: up 348 places, from 920th to 572nd
Mammie: up 332 places, from 896th to 564th
Delphine: up 330 places, from 912th to 582nd
Eura: up 329 places, from 944th to 615th
Carolina: up 311 places, from 844th to 533rd
Deborah: up 288 places, from 995th to 707th
Adell: up 275 places, from 756th to 481st
Elvera: up 273 places, from 915th to 642nd
Beaulah: up 265 places, from 843rd to 578th
Osie: up 263 places, from 900th to 637th

Boys

Bruno: up 424 places, from 870th to 446th
Ivy: up 421 places, from 990th to 569th
Hosea: up 394 places, from 986th to 592nd
Terry: up 391 places, from 923rd to 532nd
Kelly: up 365 places, from 755th to 390th
Toney: up 350 places, from 924th to 574th
Jonas: up 344 places, from 752nd to 408th
Jewel: up 323 places, from 823rd to 500th
Hermon: up 323 places, from 984th to 661st
Henery: up 321 places, from 818th to 497th

New to the top 1,000 in 1900

Girls

Kattie, 510th (back after dropping out)
Gloria, 561st (back after dropping out)
Birtha, 613th (back after dropping out)
Ossie, 631st (back after dropping out)
Margarette, 667th (back after dropping out)
Odell, 671st (back after dropping out)
Rosia, 675th (back after dropping out)
Nelda, 698th (back after dropping out)
Aggie, 705th (back after dropping out)
Golden, 711th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Wilber, 412th (back after dropping out)
Bertha, 492nd (back after dropping out)
Lonzo, 502nd (back after dropping out)
Murphy, 524th (back after dropping out)
Lonie, 546th (back after dropping out)
Pasquale, 548th (back after dropping out)
Rosevelt, 550th (its first time ever)
Elie, 561st (back after dropping out)
Meyer, 573rd (back after dropping out)
Boyce, 583rd (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1900?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 19.5% of the girls counted in 1900, and the top ten boys' names to 34.2% of the boys. In 1880, those shares were 24.6% for girls and 44.2% 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.