Most Popular Baby Names of 1909

In 1909, Mary was the most popular name for girls, given to 19,259 babies, and John topped the boys' list with 9,590. Mary held on to number one for a 30th year in a row, and John held on to number one for a 30th year in a row.

Social Security counted 347,228 girls and 163,996 boys born in 1909 under names given to at least five babies, spread across 2,548 different girls' names and 1,679 boys' names.

Top 100 names of 1909

Top girls' names, 1909
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1908
1	Mary	19,259	same
2	Helen	9,250	same
3	Margaret	7,358	same
4	Ruth	6,509	same
5	Dorothy	6,253	up 1
6	Anna	5,804	down 1
7	Elizabeth	5,176	same
8	Mildred	5,054	same
9	Marie	4,301	up 1
10	Alice	4,170	down 1
11	Florence	3,789	same
12	Frances	3,780	up 2
13	Ethel	3,661	down 1
14	Lillian	3,596	down 1
15	Gladys	3,538	same
16	Edna	3,429	up 1
17	Rose	3,374	down 1
18	Evelyn	3,157	up 2
19	Louise	3,019	down 1
20	Irene	2,961	up 3
21	Grace	2,912	down 2
22	Annie	2,904	down 1
23	Catherine	2,897	down 1
24	Hazel	2,708	same
25	Gertrude	2,622	same
26	Thelma	2,612	same
27	Ruby	2,524	up 6
28	Martha	2,510	up 4
29	Bertha	2,444	same
30	Virginia	2,420	up 5
31	Josephine	2,416	down 3
32	Clara	2,403	down 1
33	Edith	2,371	down 6
34	Emma	2,338	down 4
35	Bessie	2,276	down 1
36	Lucille	2,192	up 2
37	Esther	2,185	down 1
38	Beatrice	2,105	up 2
39	Elsie	2,064	up 2
40	Pearl	2,048	down 1
41	Mabel	2,007	down 4
42	Agnes	1,974	up 3
43	Myrtle	1,950	up 1
44	Ida	1,943	down 1
45	Julia	1,931	up 5
46	Viola	1,926	down 4
47	Eva	1,896	down 1
48	Pauline	1,896	up 3
49	Sarah	1,845	down 1
50	Minnie	1,779	down 3
51	Nellie	1,768	down 2
52	Lillie	1,635	up 2
53	Katherine	1,557	up 2
54	Willie	1,549	up 5
55	Laura	1,524	down 3
56	Ann	1,477	up 6
57	Eleanor	1,460	up 8
58	Marion	1,445	up 5
59	Mattie	1,407	up 1
60	Ella	1,382	down 4
61	Alma	1,375	down 8
62	Bernice	1,337	down 1
63	Jessie	1,321	down 5
64	Doris	1,298	up 6
65	Lena	1,295	down 1
66	Carrie	1,276	same
67	Vera	1,242	up 1
68	Mae	1,230	down 11
69	Blanche	1,217	same
70	Stella	1,188	down 3
71	Lucy	1,175	up 3
72	Leona	1,167	up 1
73	Lois	1,157	up 7
74	Kathryn	1,138	up 3
75	Hattie	1,134	down 4
76	Anne	1,110	down 1
77	Betty	1,082	down 5
78	Marjorie	1,082	up 7
79	Fannie	1,071	down 3
80	Beulah	1,052	up 2
81	Marguerite	1,036	up 7
82	Opal	1,028	up 2
83	Jennie	998	down 5
84	Mamie	974	down 5
85	Cora	969	down 2
86	Ellen	960	up 6
87	Rosa	959	down 1
88	Ada	945	down 1
89	Violet	945	down 8
90	Jean	940	up 1
91	Lula	922	down 2
92	Velma	857	down 2
93	Sylvia	847	up 8
94	Charlotte	841	up 4
95	Dora	829	down 2
96	Inez	826	up 4
97	Georgia	813	same
98	Maggie	794	down 3
99	Genevieve	785	up 9
100	Hilda	773	up 2

Top boys' names, 1909
Rank	Name	Babies	vs 1908
1	John	9,590	same
2	William	7,913	same
3	James	7,595	same
4	George	4,688	same
5	Robert	4,563	same
6	Joseph	4,348	same
7	Charles	4,029	same
8	Frank	3,244	same
9	Edward	2,935	same
10	Thomas	2,468	same
11	Henry	2,411	same
12	Walter	2,287	same
13	Willie	2,175	same
14	Harry	1,924	same
15	Albert	1,816	same
16	Harold	1,725	up 1
17	Paul	1,676	up 1
18	Arthur	1,665	down 2
19	Clarence	1,518	same
20	Raymond	1,441	up 1
21	Richard	1,427	up 2
22	Fred	1,355	down 2
23	Joe	1,292	up 1
24	Louis	1,231	down 2
25	Carl	1,215	up 4
26	Howard	1,166	up 2
27	Jack	1,150	same
28	Roy	1,135	down 2
29	David	1,094	up 1
30	Ralph	1,091	down 5
31	Earl	1,007	up 1
32	Samuel	983	up 1
33	Francis	886	up 1
34	Ernest	885	down 3
35	Lawrence	854	same
36	Charlie	833	up 1
37	Herbert	831	down 1
38	Andrew	766	up 1
39	Alfred	763	down 1
40	Anthony	758	up 1
41	Kenneth	746	down 1
42	Donald	725	up 3
43	Eugene	724	same
44	Sam	700	up 2
45	Elmer	687	down 3
46	Leonard	665	up 2
47	Michael	635	down 3
48	Herman	618	up 2
49	Leo	609	same
50	Stanley	607	up 2
51	Theodore	595	down 4
52	Lee	584	down 1
53	Floyd	570	up 2
54	Daniel	569	same
55	Leroy	568	up 1
56	Peter	539	down 3
57	Clifford	536	up 1
58	Russell	528	down 1
59	Jesse	517	up 3
60	Clyde	516	down 1
61	Lester	501	down 1
62	Edwin	492	up 2
63	Benjamin	489	same
64	Frederick	477	up 4
65	Lewis	477	down 4
66	Chester	475	same
67	Ray	475	same
68	Bernard	463	up 2
69	Eddie	462	up 2
70	Oscar	459	down 5
71	Melvin	448	up 4
72	Cecil	432	same
73	Jessie	432	up 4
74	Claude	419	down 5
75	Norman	415	down 1
76	Lloyd	412	down 3
77	Johnnie	401	up 8
78	Philip	395	up 8
79	Martin	391	up 4
80	Leon	377	up 4
81	Milton	369	down 2
82	Alvin	363	up 7
83	Harvey	361	down 1
84	Ben	358	down 6
85	Marvin	354	up 2
86	Edgar	347	down 10
87	Luther	347	up 4
88	Tom	340	down 7
89	Victor	320	down 1
90	Everett	314	same
91	Stephen	314	up 3
92	Homer	313	down 12
93	Allen	312	down 1
94	Morris	305	up 4
95	Gerald	301	up 2
96	Leslie	292	down 1
97	Vernon	284	down 4
98	Julius	269	up 1
99	Otis	267	up 6
100	Will	267	down 4

Biggest climbers in 1909

The names that gained the most ground within the top 1,000 compared with 1908.

Girls

Sofia: up 325 places, from 967th to 642nd
Gene: up 265 places, from 894th to 629th
Gwen: up 262 places, from 861st to 599th
Prudence: up 255 places, from 999th to 744th
Norine: up 237 places, from 905th to 668th
Johnie: up 234 places, from 718th to 484th
Theo: up 222 places, from 808th to 586th
Mellie: up 222 places, from 903rd to 681st
Emmer: up 216 places, from 890th to 674th
Dorris: up 213 places, from 796th to 583rd

Boys

Rogers: up 352 places, from 868th to 516th
Anna: up 351 places, from 882nd to 531st
Abram: up 347 places, from 877th to 530th
Elisha: up 309 places, from 843rd to 534th
Guadalupe: up 309 places, from 909th to 600th
Melville: up 297 places, from 998th to 701st
Garnett: up 287 places, from 796th to 509th
Gaston: up 283 places, from 979th to 696th
Carmen: up 281 places, from 786th to 505th
Lucien: up 265 places, from 730th to 465th

New to the top 1,000 in 1909

Girls

Clifford, 685th (back after dropping out)
Nelda, 703rd (back after dropping out)
Judy, 715th (back after dropping out)
Leonor, 725th (back after dropping out)
Mammie, 753rd (back after dropping out)
Rossie, 772nd (back after dropping out)
Jamie, 780th (back after dropping out)
Birtha, 794th (back after dropping out)
Deloris, 799th (back after dropping out)
Georgina, 802nd (back after dropping out)

Boys

Loy, 568th (back after dropping out)
Angus, 590th (back after dropping out)
Toney, 611th (back after dropping out)
Buddie, 618th (back after dropping out)
Carol, 619th (back after dropping out)
Cicero, 660th (back after dropping out)
Loyal, 667th (back after dropping out)
Mearl, 668th (back after dropping out)
Quincy, 672nd (back after dropping out)
Alfonzo, 680th (back after dropping out)

How spread out were names in 1909?

The ten most popular girls' names went to 21.1% of the girls counted in 1909, and the top ten boys' names to 31.3% of the boys. In 1889, those shares were 21.2% for girls and 38.9% 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.