Most Popular Baby Names of 1908

In 1908, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 18,665 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 9,343. Mary held on to number one for a 29th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 29th year in a row.

Social Security counted 334,312 girls and 154,336 boys born in 1908 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 2,434 different girls' names and 1,584 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1908

Top girls' names, 1908
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1907
1	Mary	18,665	same
2	Helen	8,439	same
3	Margaret	6,976	same
4	Ruth	6,180	up 1
5	Anna	5,860	down 1
6	Dorothy	5,703	same
7	Elizabeth	4,904	same
8	Mildred	4,624	same
9	Alice	4,270	same
10	Marie	4,076	same
11	Florence	3,883	same
12	Ethel	3,786	same
13	Lillian	3,634	same
14	Frances	3,593	up 2
15	Gladys	3,580	down 1
16	Rose	3,382	up 1
17	Edna	3,365	down 2
18	Louise	2,937	up 3
19	Grace	2,901	up 1
20	Evelyn	2,857	down 2
21	Annie	2,820	down 2
22	Catherine	2,750	up 3
23	Irene	2,732	down 1
24	Hazel	2,698	down 1
25	Gertrude	2,562	down 1
26	Thelma	2,526	up 2
27	Edith	2,410	up 5
28	Josephine	2,389	up 5
29	Bertha	2,384	down 3
30	Emma	2,357	down 3
31	Clara	2,352	down 2
32	Martha	2,324	down 1
33	Ruby	2,229	up 1
34	Bessie	2,201	down 4
35	Virginia	2,195	up 6
36	Esther	2,187	up 1
37	Mabel	2,096	down 1
38	Lucille	2,080	up 7
39	Pearl	2,075	down 4
40	Beatrice	1,997	up 4
41	Elsie	1,983	up 2
42	Viola	1,964	up 5
43	Ida	1,952	down 5
44	Myrtle	1,952	down 5
45	Agnes	1,934	up 1
46	Eva	1,930	down 4
47	Minnie	1,817	down 7
48	Sarah	1,814	same
49	Nellie	1,757	up 1
50	Julia	1,749	down 1
51	Pauline	1,702	up 1
52	Laura	1,558	down 1
53	Alma	1,474	up 5
54	Lillie	1,471	down 1
55	Katherine	1,430	same
56	Ella	1,428	down 2
57	Mae	1,384	same
58	Jessie	1,382	up 2
59	Willie	1,371	down 3
60	Mattie	1,364	down 1
61	Bernice	1,363	up 4
62	Ann	1,354	same
63	Marion	1,349	same
64	Lena	1,331	same
65	Eleanor	1,302	up 2
66	Carrie	1,239	down 5
67	Stella	1,216	up 3
68	Vera	1,204	up 1
69	Blanche	1,162	down 3
70	Doris	1,155	up 6
71	Hattie	1,137	same
72	Betty	1,128	up 5
73	Leona	1,118	down 1
74	Lucy	1,118	down 6
75	Anne	1,088	up 4
76	Fannie	1,085	down 2
77	Kathryn	1,058	up 11
78	Jennie	1,038	same
79	Mamie	1,028	down 4
80	Lois	1,023	up 5
81	Violet	1,017	same
82	Beulah	1,015	down 9
83	Cora	962	down 3
84	Opal	955	up 2
85	Marjorie	942	up 8
86	Rosa	941	down 4
87	Ada	922	down 4
88	Marguerite	913	down 1
89	Lula	892	down 5
90	Velma	860	same
91	Jean	852	up 5
92	Ellen	848	down 3
93	Dora	806	up 1
94	Theresa	795	up 5
95	Maggie	772	down 4
96	Sadie	770	down 1
97	Georgia	768	down 5
98	Charlotte	766	up 7
99	Daisy	765	down 1
100	Inez	757	up 2

Top boys' names, 1908
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1907
1	John	9,343	same
2	William	7,529	same
3	James	7,012	same
4	George	4,584	same
5	Robert	4,219	same
6	Joseph	4,162	up 1
7	Charles	3,929	down 1
8	Frank	3,146	same
9	Edward	2,707	same
10	Thomas	2,301	up 1
11	Henry	2,283	down 1
12	Walter	2,192	same
13	Willie	1,964	same
14	Harry	1,934	same
15	Albert	1,642	same
16	Arthur	1,601	same
17	Harold	1,542	same
18	Paul	1,478	up 2
19	Clarence	1,428	down 1
20	Fred	1,381	down 1
21	Raymond	1,381	same
22	Louis	1,317	up 3
23	Richard	1,244	down 1
24	Joe	1,209	down 1
25	Ralph	1,138	up 4
26	Roy	1,097	down 2
27	Jack	1,086	down 1
28	Howard	1,078	up 5
29	Carl	1,074	down 2
30	David	1,015	up 1
31	Ernest	1,000	down 1
32	Earl	999	down 4
33	Samuel	960	down 1
34	Francis	853	up 3
35	Lawrence	815	down 1
36	Herbert	759	up 3
37	Charlie	740	down 2
38	Alfred	739	down 2
39	Andrew	722	up 1
40	Kenneth	692	up 7
41	Anthony	690	up 5
42	Elmer	689	up 3
43	Eugene	689	down 2
44	Michael	688	up 4
45	Donald	664	down 1
46	Sam	644	down 3
47	Theodore	643	down 9
48	Leonard	614	up 3
49	Leo	584	down 7
50	Herman	562	down 1
51	Lee	553	up 3
52	Stanley	547	up 3
53	Peter	541	up 8
54	Daniel	530	down 2
55	Floyd	529	down 2
56	Leroy	523	down 6
57	Russell	523	same
58	Clifford	515	up 7
59	Clyde	511	down 3
60	Lester	509	down 2
61	Lewis	489	up 5
62	Jesse	482	up 1
63	Benjamin	480	up 1
64	Edwin	477	down 2
65	Oscar	476	down 6
66	Chester	461	up 1
67	Ray	446	down 7
68	Frederick	438	same
69	Claude	428	up 5
70	Bernard	414	up 3
71	Eddie	413	down 1
72	Cecil	397	down 3
73	Lloyd	394	down 1
74	Norman	374	up 1
75	Melvin	366	up 3
76	Edgar	360	up 5
77	Jessie	355	down 6
78	Ben	353	up 4
79	Milton	346	up 10
80	Homer	340	up 4
81	Tom	340	up 2
82	Harvey	339	down 5
83	Martin	331	down 4
84	Leon	327	down 4
85	Johnnie	321	up 1
86	Philip	319	down 10
87	Marvin	311	same
88	Victor	308	up 12
89	Alvin	307	up 10
90	Everett	294	down 2
91	Luther	292	same
92	Allen	287	down 7
93	Vernon	285	up 16
94	Stephen	280	up 1
95	Leslie	279	down 1
96	Will	274	up 1
97	Gerald	270	up 5
98	Morris	269	down 2
99	Julius	263	up 6
100	Virgil	258	down 7

Biggest climbers in 1908

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1907.

Girls

Edrie: up 423 places, from 1000th to 577th
Sammie: up 358 places, from 985th to 627th
Dottie: up 297 places, from 998th to 701st
Germaine: up 275 places, from 804th to 529th
Exie: up 255 places, from 825th to 570th
Myrna: up 242 places, from 830th to 588th
Mallie: up 241 places, from 828th to 587th
Emelia: up 227 places, from 958th to 731st
Oleta: up 226 places, from 918th to 692nd
Myrle: up 224 places, from 891st to 667th

Boys

Ford: up 425 places, from 952nd to 527th
Taft: up 389 places, from 662nd to 273rd
Hamilton: up 380 places, from 838th to 458th
Marlin: up 370 places, from 975th to 605th
Elwin: up 347 places, from 890th to 543rd
Milburn: up 339 places, from 913th to 574th
Stacy: up 317 places, from 927th to 610th
Watson: up 312 places, from 996th to 684th
Shelby: up 294 places, from 731st to 437th
Oran: up 288 places, from 850th to 562nd

New to the top 1,000 in 1908

Girls

Lera, 687th (back after dropping out)
Renee, 727th (back after dropping out)
Fae, 732nd (back after dropping out)
Florene, 733rd (back after dropping out)
Missouri, 738th (back after dropping out)
Delta, 745th (back after dropping out)
Henry, 750th (back after dropping out)
Magdalen, 762nd (back after dropping out)
Eloisa, 776th (back after dropping out)
Icie, 778th (back after dropping out)

Boys

Ludwig, 572nd (back after dropping out)
Andres, 586th (back after dropping out)
Shelton, 626th (back after dropping out)
Lew, 647th (back after dropping out)
Blair, 658th (back after dropping out)
Burnett, 660th (back after dropping out)
Hadley, 668th (its first time ever)
Julio, 698th (back after dropping out)
Lawerence, 699th (back after dropping out)
Ransom, 705th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1908?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 20.8% of the girls counted in 1908, and the top ten boys' names to 31.7% of the boys. In 1888, those shares were 21.4% for girls and 39.4% 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.