Most Popular Baby Names of 1902

In 1902, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 14,486 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 7,907. Mary held on to number one for a 23rd year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 23rd year in a row.

Social Security counted 264,073 girls and 122,660 boys born in 1902 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 2,042 different girls' names and 1,320 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1902

Top girls' names, 1902
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1901
1	Mary	14,486	same
2	Helen	5,967	same
3	Anna	5,288	same
4	Margaret	5,011	same
5	Ruth	4,384	same
6	Elizabeth	3,694	same
7	Florence	3,509	up 1
8	Marie	3,424	down 1
9	Ethel	3,295	same
10	Alice	3,135	up 2
11	Lillian	3,063	down 1
12	Gladys	2,809	down 1
13	Edna	2,754	same
14	Mildred	2,750	same
15	Dorothy	2,707	up 7
16	Annie	2,664	same
17	Grace	2,642	down 2
18	Emma	2,514	down 1
19	Bessie	2,448	up 2
20	Rose	2,444	same
21	Clara	2,432	down 3
22	Bertha	2,372	down 3
23	Frances	2,326	up 2
24	Mabel	2,280	same
25	Hazel	2,238	down 2
26	Irene	2,210	up 4
27	Gertrude	2,207	same
28	Pearl	2,100	up 3
29	Minnie	2,055	down 3
30	Martha	2,030	down 1
31	Catherine	1,896	up 7
32	Myrtle	1,884	down 4
33	Edith	1,853	down 1
34	Ida	1,836	same
35	Esther	1,833	down 2
36	Louise	1,832	same
37	Eva	1,727	same
38	Elsie	1,720	down 3
39	Sarah	1,710	up 1
40	Agnes	1,676	down 1
41	Nellie	1,566	same
42	Josephine	1,565	up 1
43	Laura	1,559	up 1
44	Lillie	1,533	up 1
45	Ella	1,525	down 3
46	Julia	1,501	same
47	Ruby	1,458	up 2
48	Viola	1,447	down 1
49	Beatrice	1,429	up 4
50	Carrie	1,376	down 2
51	Mattie	1,353	down 1
52	Thelma	1,309	up 5
53	Mae	1,261	up 1
54	Jessie	1,240	up 1
55	Alma	1,229	down 3
56	Lena	1,225	down 5
57	Hattie	1,163	down 1
58	Blanche	1,159	up 1
59	Evelyn	1,151	up 3
60	Mamie	1,127	same
61	Lucille	1,087	up 9
62	Cora	1,081	down 4
63	Stella	1,075	up 2
64	Willie	1,071	up 4
65	Lucy	1,065	down 4
66	Marion	1,033	down 3
67	Virginia	1,008	up 9
68	Katherine	1,004	up 3
69	Jennie	985	same
70	Pauline	985	down 6
71	Lula	976	down 4
72	Fannie	971	same
73	Vera	947	same
74	Ada	921	down 8
75	Rosa	909	same
76	Leona	875	up 2
77	Beulah	873	down 3
78	Maggie	853	up 2
79	Eleanor	837	up 5
80	Maude	834	down 3
81	Bernice	794	up 5
82	Dora	780	down 3
83	Ann	753	up 6
84	Ellen	753	down 2
85	Daisy	748	up 2
86	Nora	724	down 5
87	Kathryn	717	up 3
88	Susie	717	same
89	Sadie	716	down 4
90	Marguerite	695	down 7
91	Georgia	664	up 5
92	Effie	658	up 5
93	Doris	656	up 8
94	Hilda	649	down 2
95	Violet	649	down 4
96	Della	609	up 4
97	Emily	606	up 2
98	Lois	594	up 11
99	Olive	593	down 1
100	Flora	587	up 7

Top boys' names, 1902
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1901
1	John	7,907	same
2	William	6,617	same
3	James	5,592	same
4	George	4,223	same
5	Charles	3,361	same
6	Robert	3,180	up 1
7	Joseph	3,098	down 1
8	Frank	2,756	same
9	Edward	2,294	same
10	Henry	2,154	same
11	Thomas	2,134	same
12	Walter	1,858	same
13	Harry	1,750	same
14	Willie	1,565	up 2
15	Arthur	1,487	down 1
16	Albert	1,375	down 1
17	Clarence	1,292	same
18	Fred	1,286	same
19	Harold	1,077	up 2
20	Paul	1,067	down 1
21	Raymond	1,064	up 1
22	Roy	1,002	down 2
23	Joe	955	up 4
24	Carl	952	same
25	Louis	912	same
26	Richard	908	same
27	Earl	877	down 4
28	Ralph	866	up 1
29	Ernest	790	down 1
30	Charlie	761	up 1
31	David	761	down 1
32	Jack	743	same
33	Samuel	702	same
34	Theodore	642	up 9
35	Howard	632	down 1
36	Herbert	615	down 1
37	Lawrence	598	same
38	Francis	597	down 2
39	Alfred	590	same
40	Elmer	574	down 2
41	Sam	559	same
42	Andrew	558	down 2
43	Leo	551	down 1
44	Eugene	524	same
45	Daniel	501	up 3
46	Lee	475	down 1
47	Floyd	471	down 1
48	Michael	460	up 4
49	Herman	457	up 2
50	Jesse	437	down 1
51	Peter	433	up 6
52	Leonard	426	up 2
53	Russell	422	down 3
54	Anthony	420	up 8
55	Oscar	397	down 8
56	Edwin	393	up 9
57	Ray	391	up 2
58	Lester	385	up 3
59	Lewis	385	up 4
60	Clyde	382	down 5
61	Benjamin	374	down 5
62	Leroy	370	up 10
63	Donald	366	up 14
64	Will	359	down 11
65	Cecil	354	up 5
66	Eddie	353	same
67	Lloyd	344	up 1
68	Claude	336	down 10
69	Stanley	334	up 13
70	Frederick	330	down 10
71	Clifford	326	down 2
72	Martin	325	down 8
73	Jessie	323	up 12
74	Chester	321	up 1
75	Tom	312	down 8
76	Edgar	307	down 5
77	Jim	300	up 4
78	Kenneth	275	same
79	Ben	273	down 6
80	Homer	269	down 6
81	Luther	266	down 2
82	Harvey	264	down 6
83	Bernard	259	down 3
84	Norman	256	down 1
85	Leslie	251	up 4
86	Leon	248	up 1
87	Melvin	248	up 10
88	Everett	238	down 2
89	Allen	227	down 1
90	Philip	226	down 6
91	Johnnie	221	up 13
92	Hugh	217	down 1
93	Alexander	216	up 9
94	Stephen	210	up 15
95	Jacob	207	up 3
96	Milton	207	down 6
97	Victor	205	up 3
98	Patrick	203	down 5
99	Alvin	201	down 4
100	Horace	199	down 4

Biggest climbers in 1902

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1901.

Girls

Joe: up 332 places, from 940th to 608th
Hertha: up 321 places, from 898th to 577th
Ray: up 312 places, from 820th to 508th
Magnolia: up 302 places, from 759th to 457th
Adell: up 269 places, from 747th to 478th
Elvie: up 260 places, from 862nd to 602nd
Velva: up 245 places, from 960th to 715th
Kattie: up 233 places, from 811th to 578th
Clifford: up 227 places, from 965th to 738th
Missouri: up 209 places, from 789th to 580th

Boys

Cicero: up 432 places, from 971st to 539th
Thad: up 387 places, from 938th to 551st
Vito: up 386 places, from 941st to 555th
Eligah: up 385 places, from 982nd to 597th
Issac: up 354 places, from 899th to 545th
Tim: up 332 places, from 852nd to 520th
Lucien: up 323 places, from 822nd to 499th
Merlin: up 311 places, from 915th to 604th
Mildred: up 310 places, from 916th to 606th
Jonathan: up 305 places, from 752nd to 447th

New to the top 1,000 in 1902

Girls

Willia, 620th (back after dropping out)
Lolita, 660th (its first time ever)
Birtie, 672nd (back after dropping out)
Louie, 705th (back after dropping out)
Rosalee, 711th (back after dropping out)
Millicent, 732nd (back after dropping out)
Therese, 753rd (back after dropping out)
Elouise, 762nd (its first time ever)
Coletta, 776th (back after dropping out)
Trudie, 792nd (back after dropping out)

Boys

Junious, 481st (back after dropping out)
Rogers, 484th (back after dropping out)
Judge, 517th (back after dropping out)
Winfred, 535th (back after dropping out)
Ottis, 549th (back after dropping out)
Travis, 553rd (back after dropping out)
Lonzo, 571st (back after dropping out)
Audrey, 587th (back after dropping out)
Bernice, 589th (back after dropping out)
Eldred, 596th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1902?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 19.8% of the girls counted in 1902, and the top ten boys' names to 33.6% of the boys. In 1882, those shares were 23.9% for girls and 42.7% 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.