Most Popular Baby Names of 1903

In 1903, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 14,275 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 7,608. Mary held on to number one for a 24th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 24th year in a row.

Social Security counted 261,970 girls and 119,230 boys born in 1903 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 2,083 different girls' names and 1,306 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1903

Top girls' names, 1903
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1902
1	Mary	14,275	same
2	Helen	6,129	same
3	Anna	5,098	same
4	Margaret	5,045	same
5	Ruth	4,517	same
6	Elizabeth	3,724	same
7	Marie	3,469	up 1
8	Florence	3,468	down 1
9	Ethel	3,257	same
10	Mildred	3,088	up 4
11	Dorothy	3,078	up 4
12	Alice	2,996	down 2
13	Lillian	2,972	down 2
14	Gladys	2,674	down 2
15	Edna	2,667	down 2
16	Grace	2,616	up 1
17	Annie	2,551	down 1
18	Rose	2,478	up 2
19	Frances	2,365	up 4
20	Clara	2,342	up 1
21	Bessie	2,339	down 2
22	Bertha	2,309	same
23	Emma	2,308	down 5
24	Gertrude	2,253	up 3
25	Mabel	2,163	down 1
26	Hazel	2,139	down 1
27	Pearl	2,046	up 1
28	Irene	2,001	down 2
29	Martha	1,980	up 1
30	Myrtle	1,980	up 2
31	Louise	1,935	up 5
32	Catherine	1,916	down 1
33	Edith	1,901	same
34	Esther	1,883	up 1
35	Minnie	1,846	down 6
36	Eva	1,783	up 1
37	Ida	1,774	down 3
38	Elsie	1,720	same
39	Agnes	1,616	up 1
40	Josephine	1,587	up 2
41	Sarah	1,553	down 2
42	Ruby	1,538	up 5
43	Laura	1,503	same
44	Viola	1,495	up 4
45	Nellie	1,491	down 4
46	Lillie	1,485	down 2
47	Thelma	1,479	up 5
48	Julia	1,447	down 2
49	Beatrice	1,439	same
50	Ella	1,419	down 5
51	Mattie	1,278	same
52	Carrie	1,252	down 2
53	Alma	1,244	up 2
54	Evelyn	1,211	up 5
55	Jessie	1,202	down 1
56	Lena	1,200	same
57	Lucille	1,193	up 4
58	Mae	1,192	down 5
59	Blanche	1,174	down 1
60	Hattie	1,106	down 3
61	Marion	1,042	up 5
62	Pauline	1,042	up 8
63	Virginia	1,032	up 4
64	Fannie	1,016	up 8
65	Stella	1,016	down 2
66	Katherine	1,015	up 2
67	Willie	1,014	down 3
68	Lucy	990	down 3
69	Mamie	990	down 9
70	Cora	986	down 8
71	Jennie	936	down 2
72	Beulah	920	up 5
73	Lula	913	down 2
74	Rosa	911	up 1
75	Vera	899	down 2
76	Leona	881	same
77	Bernice	868	up 4
78	Ada	843	down 4
79	Eleanor	840	same
80	Maggie	780	down 2
81	Dora	778	up 1
82	Daisy	776	up 3
83	Maude	776	down 3
84	Ann	774	down 1
85	Ellen	773	down 1
86	Kathryn	729	up 1
87	Nora	724	down 1
88	Hilda	698	up 6
89	Sadie	683	same
90	Susie	680	down 2
91	Marguerite	667	down 1
92	Lois	664	up 6
93	Violet	636	up 2
94	Georgia	632	down 3
95	Doris	629	down 2
96	Della	611	same
97	Olive	597	up 2
98	Betty	596	up 3
99	Velma	589	up 14
100	Anne	581	up 6

Top boys' names, 1903
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1902
1	John	7,608	same
2	William	6,311	same
3	James	5,479	same
4	George	3,961	same
5	Charles	3,213	same
6	Joseph	3,121	up 1
7	Robert	3,044	down 1
8	Frank	2,644	same
9	Edward	2,268	same
10	Thomas	1,962	up 1
11	Henry	1,922	down 1
12	Walter	1,840	same
13	Harry	1,647	same
14	Willie	1,454	same
15	Arthur	1,435	same
16	Albert	1,337	same
17	Clarence	1,261	same
18	Fred	1,204	same
19	Paul	1,081	up 1
20	Harold	1,065	down 1
21	Raymond	1,051	same
22	Roy	975	same
23	Carl	910	up 1
24	Joe	895	down 1
25	Louis	889	same
26	Richard	862	same
27	Earl	837	same
28	Jack	831	up 4
29	Ralph	807	down 1
30	Ernest	764	down 1
31	Samuel	741	up 2
32	Charlie	739	down 2
33	David	716	down 2
34	Herbert	668	up 2
35	Francis	665	up 3
36	Theodore	663	down 2
37	Howard	636	down 2
38	Leo	636	up 5
39	Alfred	557	same
40	Elmer	556	same
41	Sam	552	same
42	Andrew	550	same
43	Lawrence	536	down 6
44	Eugene	478	same
45	Lee	477	up 1
46	Floyd	472	up 1
47	Michael	466	up 1
48	Herman	449	up 1
49	Leonard	448	up 3
50	Daniel	432	down 5
51	Oscar	427	up 4
52	Clyde	413	up 8
53	Lester	400	up 5
54	Anthony	399	same
55	Ray	397	up 2
56	Russell	390	down 3
57	Jesse	388	down 7
58	Peter	372	down 7
59	Stanley	361	up 10
60	Donald	359	up 3
61	Clifford	348	up 10
62	Edwin	347	down 6
63	Frederick	341	up 7
64	Leroy	340	down 2
65	Lewis	335	down 6
66	Cecil	332	down 1
67	Kenneth	330	up 11
68	Chester	327	up 6
69	Benjamin	324	down 8
70	Eddie	314	down 4
71	Claude	301	down 3
72	Lloyd	299	down 5
73	Tom	295	up 2
74	Harvey	293	up 8
75	Will	293	down 11
76	Leon	287	up 10
77	Martin	283	down 5
78	Jessie	280	down 5
79	Bernard	271	up 4
80	Luther	265	up 1
81	Ben	259	down 2
82	Edgar	259	down 6
83	Homer	257	down 3
84	Jim	257	down 7
85	Philip	250	up 5
86	Norman	238	down 2
87	Johnnie	237	up 4
88	Melvin	230	down 1
89	Leslie	227	down 4
90	Alvin	222	up 9
91	Allen	219	down 2
92	Milton	210	up 4
93	Oliver	210	up 14
94	Patrick	210	up 4
95	Everett	204	down 7
96	Stephen	200	down 2
97	Glenn	198	up 9
98	Roosevelt	196	up 18
99	Victor	196	down 2
100	Alexander	195	down 7

Biggest climbers in 1903

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1902.

Girls

Elna: up 378 places, from 987th to 609th
Lilian: up 291 places, from 836th to 545th
Berneice: up 275 places, from 943rd to 668th
Sophronia: up 275 places, from 964th to 689th
Clora: up 265 places, from 980th to 715th
Zetta: up 241 places, from 935th to 694th
Dorotha: up 240 places, from 981st to 741st
Zona: up 230 places, from 733rd to 503rd
Evalyn: up 229 places, from 780th to 551st
Rachael: up 228 places, from 815th to 587th

Boys

Madison: up 475 places, from 989th to 514th
Murphy: up 452 places, from 995th to 543rd
Davis: up 442 places, from 876th to 434th
Guadalupe: up 435 places, from 971st to 536th
Nat: up 388 places, from 997th to 609th
Warner: up 380 places, from 790th to 410th
Bessie: up 363 places, from 943rd to 580th
Burl: up 352 places, from 804th to 452nd
Carmine: up 346 places, from 946th to 600th
Parker: up 343 places, from 912th to 569th

New to the top 1,000 in 1903

Girls

Stephanie, 572nd (back after dropping out)
Rosalia, 678th (back after dropping out)
Velda, 692nd (back after dropping out)
Margaretta, 750th (back after dropping out)
Neoma, 752nd (back after dropping out)
Rossie, 755th (back after dropping out)
Leontine, 773rd (back after dropping out)
Selina, 787th (back after dropping out)
Pollie, 805th (back after dropping out)
Rafaela, 807th (its first time ever)

Boys

Jordan, 457th (back after dropping out)
Garnett, 533rd (back after dropping out)
Lesley, 541st (back after dropping out)
Duane, 556th (back after dropping out)
Reynold, 591st (back after dropping out)
Rose, 592nd (back after dropping out)
Artis, 598th (back after dropping out)
Isom, 634th (back after dropping out)
Josiah, 637th (back after dropping out)
Newell, 645th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1903?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 19.9% of the girls counted in 1903, and the top ten boys' names to 33.2% of the boys. In 1883, those shares were 23.4% for girls and 42.6% 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.