Most Popular Baby Names of 1906

In 1906, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 16,370 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 8,264. Mary held on to number one for a 27th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 27th year in a row.

Social Security counted 295,297 girls and 133,154 boys born in 1906 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 2,220 different girls' names and 1,413 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1906

Top girls' names, 1906
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1905
1	Mary	16,370	same
2	Helen	7,176	same
3	Margaret	6,096	same
4	Anna	5,502	same
5	Ruth	5,140	same
6	Dorothy	4,326	up 1
7	Elizabeth	4,320	down 1
8	Alice	4,192	up 2
9	Mildred	3,873	down 1
10	Florence	3,691	up 1
11	Marie	3,690	down 2
12	Ethel	3,511	same
13	Lillian	3,293	same
14	Frances	3,026	up 2
15	Edna	3,011	same
16	Gladys	3,000	down 2
17	Rose	2,901	up 1
18	Annie	2,774	down 1
19	Grace	2,626	same
20	Irene	2,423	up 4
21	Bessie	2,396	down 1
22	Gertrude	2,375	up 5
23	Hazel	2,315	up 2
24	Louise	2,307	down 1
25	Bertha	2,302	down 4
26	Catherine	2,230	up 2
27	Clara	2,228	down 5
28	Emma	2,224	down 2
29	Martha	2,199	up 3
30	Edith	2,160	same
31	Thelma	2,114	up 5
32	Evelyn	2,077	up 14
33	Esther	2,065	up 1
34	Mabel	2,054	down 5
35	Pearl	2,035	down 4
36	Ruby	1,962	up 2
37	Myrtle	1,921	down 4
38	Josephine	1,900	down 1
39	Minnie	1,777	down 4
40	Elsie	1,771	same
41	Agnes	1,758	up 2
42	Eva	1,758	down 3
43	Ida	1,753	down 1
44	Sarah	1,697	down 3
45	Beatrice	1,679	same
46	Lucille	1,676	up 4
47	Viola	1,675	down 3
48	Julia	1,603	down 1
49	Nellie	1,596	down 1
50	Lillie	1,500	up 1
51	Virginia	1,491	up 2
52	Laura	1,467	down 3
53	Pauline	1,428	up 1
54	Ella	1,343	down 2
55	Mattie	1,325	same
56	Katherine	1,277	up 8
57	Alma	1,266	down 1
58	Jessie	1,247	down 1
59	Willie	1,233	same
60	Mae	1,225	same
61	Lena	1,206	same
62	Carrie	1,188	down 4
63	Marion	1,183	up 2
64	Blanche	1,173	down 1
65	Stella	1,141	up 2
66	Bernice	1,107	up 8
67	Eleanor	1,088	up 6
68	Vera	1,083	up 3
69	Lucy	1,077	down 3
70	Ann	1,064	up 5
71	Hattie	1,056	down 9
72	Leona	1,017	down 3
73	Mamie	1,002	down 3
74	Jennie	986	up 2
75	Beulah	980	up 2
76	Fannie	955	down 8
77	Cora	952	down 5
78	Kathryn	911	up 8
79	Lula	911	down 1
80	Ellen	898	up 1
81	Betty	865	up 4
82	Rosa	865	down 3
83	Doris	856	same
84	Maggie	839	same
85	Anne	835	up 13
86	Violet	830	down 4
87	Ada	819	down 7
88	Lois	799	same
89	Marguerite	791	up 1
90	Daisy	773	down 3
91	Dora	761	down 2
92	Sadie	748	down 1
93	Marjorie	728	up 3
94	Velma	721	up 1
95	Opal	718	up 4
96	Georgia	706	down 2
97	Hilda	705	up 4
98	Susie	693	down 5
99	Theresa	669	up 9
100	Jean	666	up 15

Top boys' names, 1906
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1905
1	John	8,264	same
2	William	6,566	same
3	James	5,908	same
4	George	4,201	same
5	Robert	3,635	up 1
6	Charles	3,607	down 1
7	Joseph	3,527	same
8	Frank	2,798	same
9	Edward	2,398	same
10	Thomas	2,176	same
11	Henry	2,112	same
12	Walter	1,934	same
13	Willie	1,756	same
14	Harry	1,631	same
15	Arthur	1,486	up 1
16	Albert	1,469	down 1
17	Harold	1,330	up 3
18	Clarence	1,319	down 1
19	Paul	1,308	same
20	Fred	1,193	down 2
21	Raymond	1,133	same
22	Louis	1,101	up 3
23	Richard	1,084	down 1
24	Roy	1,024	same
25	Joe	1,020	down 2
26	Ralph	984	up 1
27	Carl	951	down 1
28	Ernest	943	up 3
29	Earl	912	same
30	Jack	880	down 2
31	David	878	up 1
32	Howard	803	up 3
33	Samuel	783	down 3
34	Charlie	744	same
35	Francis	737	up 1
36	Lawrence	717	up 2
37	Herbert	689	same
38	Theodore	688	down 5
39	Eugene	637	up 3
40	Alfred	632	up 3
41	Andrew	611	down 1
42	Elmer	598	down 1
43	Sam	552	down 4
44	Anthony	542	up 4
45	Kenneth	534	up 8
46	Michael	531	down 1
47	Leo	508	down 1
48	Daniel	506	up 2
49	Herman	502	up 2
50	Leonard	492	down 3
51	Donald	486	up 8
52	Lester	482	up 5
53	Russell	459	up 5
54	Floyd	458	down 10
55	Clyde	457	down 3
56	Stanley	455	up 10
57	Jesse	436	down 3
58	Lee	436	down 9
59	Peter	427	up 3
60	Ray	421	same
61	Chester	420	up 3
62	Leroy	420	down 7
63	Clifford	413	down 2
64	Oscar	412	down 8
65	Edwin	390	up 5
66	Eddie	377	up 7
67	Frederick	377	same
68	Cecil	368	up 4
69	Lewis	365	down 4
70	Lloyd	357	down 1
71	Benjamin	352	down 3
72	Harvey	351	up 13
73	Claude	346	down 10
74	Bernard	343	up 8
75	Martin	334	same
76	Norman	324	down 5
77	Jessie	323	down 3
78	Milton	303	up 2
79	Edgar	301	down 1
80	Tom	298	down 3
81	Everett	291	up 8
82	Ben	285	up 2
83	Melvin	285	same
84	Allen	282	up 4
85	Philip	280	up 11
86	Homer	267	down 10
87	Leon	263	same
88	Leslie	263	up 6
89	Luther	262	down 10
90	Jim	261	up 5
91	Johnnie	255	down 10
92	Will	253	down 6
93	Victor	249	down 3
94	Marvin	245	up 6
95	Alvin	239	down 3
96	Morris	226	up 19
97	Vernon	223	up 7
98	Glenn	217	up 16
99	Archie	216	up 17
100	Patrick	213	up 10

Biggest climbers in 1906

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1905.

Girls

Ena: up 588 places, from 940th to 352nd
Madaline: up 295 places, from 915th to 620th
Pattie: up 293 places, from 893rd to 600th
Faith: up 291 places, from 856th to 565th
Elna: up 290 places, from 854th to 564th
Beverly: up 286 places, from 933rd to 647th
Adelle: up 283 places, from 926th to 643rd
Jenny: up 282 places, from 886th to 604th
Antonette: up 279 places, from 902nd to 623rd
Elisa: up 258 places, from 978th to 720th

Boys

Olaf: up 445 places, from 982nd to 537th
Hardy: up 385 places, from 960th to 575th
Lois: up 370 places, from 975th to 605th
Haskell: up 358 places, from 869th to 511th
Richmond: up 344 places, from 905th to 561st
Felipe: up 328 places, from 806th to 478th
Elwin: up 320 places, from 945th to 625th
Buddy: up 318 places, from 936th to 618th
Pablo: up 312 places, from 731st to 419th
Loyal: up 307 places, from 886th to 579th

New to the top 1,000 in 1906

Girls

Gail, 616th (back after dropping out)
Leonore, 724th (back after dropping out)
Mathilde, 727th (back after dropping out)
Lilyan, 753rd (back after dropping out)
Lurline, 757th (back after dropping out)
Marilyn, 759th (its first time ever)
Rozella, 762nd (back after dropping out)
Oda, 773rd (back after dropping out)
Adelina, 776th (back after dropping out)
Hertha, 780th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Mac, 484th (back after dropping out)
Rene, 501st (back after dropping out)
Rudy, 541st (back after dropping out)
Sheldon, 583rd (back after dropping out)
Thornton, 586th (back after dropping out)
Benito, 592nd (back after dropping out)
Craig, 596th (back after dropping out)
Salvador, 611th (back after dropping out)
Tracy, 612th (back after dropping out)
Adelbert, 613th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1906?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.6% of the girls counted in 1906, and the top ten boys' names to 32.4% of the boys. In 1886, those shares were 22.2% for girls and 40.4% 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.