Most Popular Baby Names of the 1900s

Across the 1900s, Mary was the most popular girls' name, given to 161,504 babies, and John led the boys with 84,590.

That's out of 2,927,552 girls and 1,357,571 boys counted between 1900 and 1909, under 3,829 different girls' names and 2,489 boys' names.

Number one, year by year

Most popular names each year, 1900 to 1909
Year	Girls	Boys
1900	Mary	John
1901	Mary	John
1902	Mary	John
1903	Mary	John
1904	Mary	John
1905	Mary	John
1906	Mary	John
1907	Mary	John
1908	Mary	John
1909	Mary	John

Top 100 names of the 1900s

Top girls' names, 1900–1909
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1890s
1	Mary	161,504	same
2	Helen	69,428	up 2
3	Margaret	57,919	same
4	Anna	54,918	down 2
5	Ruth	51,010	up 1
6	Elizabeth	41,708	down 1
7	Dorothy	39,112	up 50
8	Marie	37,091	up 2
9	Florence	36,191	down 2
10	Mildred	36,173	up 32
11	Alice	35,232	up 4
12	Ethel	34,868	down 4
13	Lillian	32,519	up 3
14	Gladys	30,285	up 29
15	Edna	29,832	up 2
16	Frances	28,499	up 11
17	Rose	28,106	up 5
18	Annie	27,748	up 1
19	Grace	26,927	down 1
20	Bertha	24,247	down 8
21	Emma	24,176	down 12
22	Bessie	23,984	down 8
23	Clara	23,899	down 12
24	Hazel	23,802	down 1
25	Irene	23,656	up 19
26	Gertrude	23,607	down 2
27	Louise	22,862	up 9
28	Catherine	22,006	up 10
29	Martha	21,750	down 4
30	Mabel	21,625	down 10
31	Pearl	20,913	down 5
32	Edith	20,884	down 3
33	Esther	20,026	up 4
34	Minnie	19,715	down 21
35	Myrtle	19,691	down 7
36	Ida	18,866	down 15
37	Josephine	18,785	up 12
38	Evelyn	18,603	up 52
39	Elsie	18,452	down 4
40	Eva	18,357	down 7
41	Thelma	18,265	not top 100 in 1890s
42	Ruby	18,175	up 24
43	Agnes	17,616	down 4
44	Sarah	17,342	down 13
45	Viola	16,559	up 20
46	Nellie	16,339	down 16
47	Beatrice	16,282	up 24
48	Julia	16,107	down 3
49	Laura	15,532	down 15
50	Lillie	15,391	down 9
51	Lucille	15,041	up 48
52	Ella	14,763	down 20
53	Virginia	14,539	up 34
54	Mattie	13,837	down 4
55	Pauline	13,310	up 24
56	Carrie	13,140	down 16
57	Alma	13,092	down 3
58	Jessie	12,756	down 6
59	Mae	12,711	down 4
60	Lena	12,703	down 12
61	Willie	12,357	up 14
62	Katherine	12,105	up 2
63	Blanche	11,730	down 7
64	Hattie	11,717	down 18
65	Marion	11,713	up 9
66	Lucy	11,020	down 7
67	Stella	11,014	down 4
68	Mamie	10,618	down 7
69	Vera	10,457	up 14
70	Cora	10,372	down 23
71	Fannie	10,346	down 9
72	Eleanor	10,030	not top 100 in 1890s
73	Bernice	10,010	not top 100 in 1890s
74	Jennie	9,988	down 23
75	Ann	9,932	not top 100 in 1890s
76	Leona	9,848	up 24
77	Beulah	9,716	up 1
78	Lula	9,518	down 18
79	Rosa	9,297	down 9
80	Ada	9,121	down 22
81	Ellen	8,339	down 9
82	Kathryn	8,333	up 7
83	Maggie	8,289	down 15
84	Doris	8,252	not top 100 in 1890s
85	Dora	8,011	down 18
86	Betty	7,921	not top 100 in 1890s
87	Marguerite	7,912	down 3
88	Violet	7,844	not top 100 in 1890s
89	Lois	7,691	not top 100 in 1890s
90	Daisy	7,687	down 5
91	Anne	7,615	not top 100 in 1890s
92	Sadie	7,461	down 19
93	Susie	7,312	down 12
94	Nora	7,172	down 25
95	Georgia	7,142	same
96	Maude	7,142	down 43
97	Marjorie	7,025	not top 100 in 1890s
98	Opal	6,791	not top 100 in 1890s
99	Hilda	6,783	not top 100 in 1890s
100	Velma	6,558	not top 100 in 1890s

Top boys' names, 1900–1909
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1890s
1	John	84,590	same
2	William	69,320	same
3	James	62,170	same
4	George	43,589	same
5	Charles	36,184	same
6	Robert	35,849	up 2
7	Joseph	35,173	down 1
8	Frank	29,046	down 1
9	Edward	24,516	same
10	Thomas	21,783	up 2
11	Henry	21,772	down 1
12	Walter	19,997	up 1
13	Harry	17,906	down 2
14	Willie	17,746	up 4
15	Arthur	15,409	down 1
16	Albert	15,318	same
17	Clarence	13,573	same
18	Fred	13,076	down 3
19	Harold	12,795	up 12
20	Paul	12,636	up 2
21	Raymond	11,650	up 5
22	Richard	10,675	up 5
23	Roy	10,632	down 4
24	Joe	10,466	up 4
25	Louis	10,372	down 5
26	Carl	9,865	down 3
27	Ralph	9,298	up 5
28	Earl	9,251	down 7
29	Jack	9,222	up 15
30	Ernest	8,657	down 6
31	David	8,619	down 2
32	Samuel	8,149	down 7
33	Howard	8,014	same
34	Charlie	7,928	down 4
35	Francis	7,021	up 11
36	Herbert	6,957	down 1
37	Lawrence	6,846	up 8
38	Theodore	6,490	up 45
39	Alfred	6,356	same
40	Andrew	6,277	down 6
41	Elmer	6,161	down 5
42	Sam	6,161	same
43	Eugene	5,909	up 6
44	Leo	5,629	down 1
45	Michael	5,220	up 9
46	Lee	5,158	up 2
47	Herman	5,064	up 3
48	Anthony	5,043	up 30
49	Daniel	5,036	down 8
50	Leonard	5,022	up 12
51	Floyd	4,968	up 2
52	Donald	4,632	not top 100 in 1890s
53	Kenneth	4,579	not top 100 in 1890s
54	Jesse	4,559	down 16
55	Russell	4,552	up 13
56	Clyde	4,524	up 2
57	Oscar	4,517	down 20
58	Peter	4,375	down 7
59	Lester	4,361	up 10
60	Leroy	4,300	up 14
61	Ray	4,256	down 6
62	Stanley	4,156	up 22
63	Clifford	4,055	up 7
64	Lewis	4,042	down 8
65	Benjamin	4,009	down 18
66	Edwin	3,961	down 7
67	Frederick	3,900	down 15
68	Chester	3,788	down 4
69	Claude	3,704	down 12
70	Eddie	3,695	up 15
71	Cecil	3,610	up 29
72	Lloyd	3,507	up 5
73	Jessie	3,379	up 6
74	Martin	3,346	down 13
75	Bernard	3,296	up 7
76	Tom	3,293	down 16
77	Will	3,246	down 37
78	Norman	3,178	up 19
79	Edgar	3,154	down 14
80	Harvey	3,104	down 13
81	Ben	3,028	down 18
82	Homer	2,915	down 10
83	Luther	2,866	down 12
84	Leon	2,859	up 4
85	Melvin	2,840	not top 100 in 1890s
86	Philip	2,817	up 1
87	Johnnie	2,781	not top 100 in 1890s
88	Jim	2,718	down 22
89	Milton	2,695	not top 100 in 1890s
90	Everett	2,597	up 6
91	Allen	2,558	up 1
92	Leslie	2,531	down 2
93	Alvin	2,484	not top 100 in 1890s
94	Victor	2,447	up 5
95	Marvin	2,324	not top 100 in 1890s
96	Stephen	2,247	not top 100 in 1890s
97	Alexander	2,230	down 4
98	Jacob	2,191	down 25
99	Hugh	2,176	down 19
100	Patrick	2,141	down 14

Names that peaked in the 1900s

These were among the decade's top 1,000 and reached their highest share of babies in a year between 1900 and 1909. The year each one peaked is in brackets.

Girls

Gladys (1901)
Rose (1908)
Viola (1908)
Leona (1905)
Beulah (1901)
Opal (1909)
Velma (1907)
Inez (1909)
Lola (1904)
Alberta (1909)

Boys

Joe (1907)
Louis (1908)
Charlie (1900)
Sam (1900)
Leo (1903)
Lee (1900)
Clyde (1905)
Lester (1906)
Clifford (1908)
Cecil (1902)

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.