Names That Peaked In 1898

These names hit their all-time highest U.S. ranking in 1898 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 1897 Peaked in 1899 Full 1898 top 100 The 1890s as a whole

Name & meaning	Babies 2025 · rank	5-year rank movement	Peak year
Lillian	3,966#57	Down 11 rank positions in five years	1920
Laurence	93#1,747	Up 243 rank positions in five years	1952
Dewey	28#3,869	Down 278 rank positions in five years	1898
Stewart	27#4,029	Down 474 rank positions in five years	1956
Neva	47#3,332	Down 790 rank positions in five years	1920
Cecile	22#5,591	Down 551 rank positions in five years	1918
Madge	—Unranked	—	1920
Abe	64#2,207	Up 229 rank positions in five years	1917
Berenice	28#4,783	Down 2,121 rank positions in five years	1995
Erna	—Unranked	—	1916
Verda	—Unranked	—	1918
Era	64#2,704	Up 862 rank positions in five years	1916
Sampson	34#3,434	Down 1,072 rank positions in five years	2017
Dillard	—Unranked	—	1921
Maceo	65#2,200	Down 316 rank positions in five years	2017
Elam	64#2,213	Down 517 rank positions in five years	2015
Golden	51#2,583	Up 454 rank positions in five years	2023
Vena	—Unranked	—	1919
Vernie	—Unranked	—	1924
Anna	—Unranked	—	1989
Vivian	5#13,774	new	1919
Hurley	—Unranked	—	1919
Laura	—Unranked	—	1971
Hildred	—Unranked	—	1920
Worth	13#6,780	Up 7,168 rank positions in five years	1918
Murl	—Unranked	—	1919
Collier	40#3,044	Down 58 rank positions in five years	2013
Ula	5#17,084	new	1924
Sadye	6#14,607	new	1898
Ethel	—Unranked	—	1928
Elfrieda	—Unranked	—	1917
Gifford	—Unranked	—	1920
Virgil	—Unranked	—	1920
Grace	12#6,931	Up 4,137 rank positions in five years	2004
Ova	—Unranked	—	1919
Vennie	—Unranked	—	1917
Hillary	—Unranked	—	1954
Adams	33#3,449	Up 4,055 rank positions in five years	1983
Toy	—Unranked	—	1919
Buel	—Unranked	—	1922
Kathryn	—Unranked	—	1989
Onnie	—Unranked	—	1922
Bethel	6#10,863	Down 95 rank positions in five years	1919
Ella	—Unranked	—	2004
Juluis	—Unranked	—	1923
Lillie	—Unranked	—	1929
Buell	—Unranked	—	1920
Alger	—Unranked	—	1919
Odile	—Unranked	—	1915
Vara	9#10,849	Down 654 rank positions in five years	1922
Cuba	—Unranked	—	1898
Dewey	—Unranked	—	1898

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How this list is built

A name “peaked” in 1898 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.

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.