Names That Peaked In 1882

These names hit their all-time highest U.S. ranking in 1882 and have never ranked as high since — the sound of that moment, frozen in the data. (The #1 names that year were Mary and John — reigning champions usually peak in a different year than they reign.)

Peaked in 1881 Peaked in 1883 Full 1882 top 100 The 1880s as a whole

Name & meaning	Babies 2025 · rank	5-year rank movement	Peak year
Martha	393#713	Up 54 rank positions in five years	1947
Jesse	2,002#184	Up 19 rank positions in five years	1981
Louis	1,391#249	Up 11 rank positions in five years	1921
Alfred	293#840	Up 59 rank positions in five years	1928
Georgia	2,619#99	Up 78 rank positions in five years	2025
Jim	38#3,158	Down 207 rank positions in five years	1959
Mattie	249#1,005	Up 40 rank positions in five years	1920
Sam	428#647	Up 8 rank positions in five years	1918
Byron	233#981	Down 191 rank positions in five years	1964
Nelson	300#825	Down 155 rank positions in five years	1959
Janie	168#1,329	Up 456 rank positions in five years	1947
Celia	351#774	Up 16 rank positions in five years	1915
Will	170#1,195	Down 254 rank positions in five years	1888
Maude	46#3,366	Up 3,452 rank positions in five years	1888
Effie	82#2,245	Up 448 rank positions in five years	1919
Lizzie	87#2,145	Up 444 rank positions in five years	1919
Bettie	10#9,546	Up 115 rank positions in five years	1924
Cornelius	82#1,908	Down 395 rank positions in five years	1974
Antonia	175#1,279	Down 105 rank positions in five years	1996
Anderson	898#363	Down 57 rank positions in five years	2012
Eugenia	61#2,787	Up 321 rank positions in five years	1919
Ed	—Unranked	—	1959
Ophelia	1,183#264	Up 127 rank positions in five years	2024
Nannie	—Unranked	—	1920
Elnora	17#6,616	Up 1,051 rank positions in five years	1924
Lilian	537#560	Up 96 rank positions in five years	2007
Gus	145#1,331	Down 155 rank positions in five years	1921
Magdalena	320#850	Up 148 rank positions in five years	2007
Wiley	165#1,226	Down 61 rank positions in five years	1921
Monroe	157#1,262	Up 222 rank positions in five years	1921
Kathrine	15#7,310	Down 826 rank positions in five years	1956
Lelia	17#6,709	Down 2,828 rank positions in five years	1919
Sanford	12#7,109	Down 1,694 rank positions in five years	1929
Birdie	422#670	Up 331 rank positions in five years	2025
Adela	201#1,151	Up 14 rank positions in five years	2015
Clementine	676#456	Up 147 rank positions in five years	2025
Gussie	—Unranked	—	1918
Charles	10#9,580	Down 1,517 rank positions in five years	1927
Alva	6#10,758	Down 3,239 rank positions in five years	1917
Lucretia	8#11,514	new	1974
Margret	21#5,842	Up 2,405 rank positions in five years	1921
Georgianna	37#3,930	Up 1,005 rank positions in five years	1942
Harriette	12#8,546	Up 4,082 rank positions in five years	1917
Emile	70#2,098	Down 90 rank positions in five years	1922
Lyman	6#11,480	Down 3,006 rank positions in five years	1917
Gertie	—Unranked	—	1918
Mose	25#4,212	Up 1,401 rank positions in five years	1919
Leander	122#1,463	Up 265 rank positions in five years	2025
Wilber	27#4,038	Down 1,061 rank positions in five years	1919
Angus	58#2,363	Down 337 rank positions in five years	2006
Watson	224#1,011	Down 408 rank positions in five years	2021
Maybelle	60#2,849	Up 969 rank positions in five years	1918
Lida	11#9,214	Down 2,414 rank positions in five years	1918
Samual	12#7,106	Down 3,703 rank positions in five years	1997
Gibson	98#1,680	Down 506 rank positions in five years	2013
Linus	82#1,913	Down 508 rank positions in five years	2017
Aura	333#817	Up 390 rank positions in five years	2025
Ransom	97#1,695	Down 97 rank positions in five years	2022
Henry	20#5,992	Up 2,142 rank positions in five years	1925
Ely	49#2,653	Down 23 rank positions in five years	2009
Artie	10#7,717	Down 649 rank positions in five years	1959
Myrtie	—Unranked	—	1917
Henderson	50#2,619	Down 219 rank positions in five years	1918
Arie	79#2,301	Down 647 rank positions in five years	2018
Clarance	—Unranked	—	1926
Sudie	—Unranked	—	1916
Arizona	86#2,156	Down 733 rank positions in five years	2020
Llewellyn	16#5,747	Up 746 rank positions in five years	1916
Nevada	39#3,818	Up 904 rank positions in five years	2003
Phebe	22#5,668	Down 1,148 rank positions in five years	2011
Mahala	15#7,357	Down 1,941 rank positions in five years	2006
Alpha	71#2,079	Up 34 rank positions in five years	2024
Ludie	—Unranked	—	1916
Irena	24#5,304	Down 914 rank positions in five years	2024
Harry	—Unranked	—	1928
Theresia	—Unranked	—	1959
Martha	—Unranked	—	1939
Mortimer	—Unranked	—	1916
Sim	—Unranked	—	1918
Mertie	—Unranked	—	1918
Okey	—Unranked	—	1925
Linn	—Unranked	—	1947
Reinhold	—Unranked	—	1917
Camille	9#8,364	Up 3,986 rank positions in five years	1915
Eber	15#5,927	Down 844 rank positions in five years	2007
Geo	40#3,053	Up 1,000 rank positions in five years	2022
Liddie	—Unranked	—	1916
Wash	—Unranked	—	1921
Dicie	—Unranked	—	1920
Ottilie	57#2,951	Up 3,313 rank positions in five years	2024
Myrta	—Unranked	—	1921
Bayard	—Unranked	—	1918
Mills	46#2,782	Up 916 rank positions in five years	2025
Huldah	—Unranked	—	1920
Pleas	—Unranked	—	1916
Alpheus	—Unranked	—	1917
Eustace	—Unranked	—	1921
Etna	5#15,629	new	1923
Hansford	—Unranked	—	1917
Olie	—Unranked	—	1916

Page 1 of 1

How this list is built

A name “peaked” in 1882 when that year holds its best-ever position in the national rankings — rank, not raw count, because raw counts track how many babies were born and would pile every “peak” into the boom years. To qualify, a name must have reached the top 1,000 at its height and have at least 500 all-time applications. Lists are ordered by that peak rank.

One caveat for 1882: the records begin in 1880, so a name shown peaking here may already have been fading when counting started — its true peak could lie earlier, out of sight.

Ranks come from U.S. births, counted separately for girls and boys. “Unranked” today means fewer than 5 applications in the latest year — uncommon, never invalid.