Name Awesome

Most Popular Baby Names Of 1881

The 100 most-used girls’ and boys’ names among U.S. births in 1881 — 192,680 recorded births in total that year.

18801882 The 1880s as a wholeNames that peaked in 1881

Girls’ names

  1. 1Mary6,9197.5%
  2. 2Anna2,6982.9%
  3. 3Emma2,0342.2%
  4. 4Elizabeth1,8522.0%
  5. 5Margaret1,6581.8%
  6. 6Minnie1,6531.8%
  7. 7Ida1,4391.6%
  8. 8Annie1,3261.4%
  9. 9Bertha1,3241.4%
  10. 10Alice1,3081.4%
  11. 11Clara1,2421.4%
  12. 12Sarah1,2261.3%
  13. 13Ella1,1481.2%
  14. 14Nellie1,0961.2%
  15. 15Grace1,0891.2%
  16. 16Florence1,0461.1%
  17. 17Martha1,0441.1%
  18. 18Cora9691.1%
  19. 19Laura9621.0%
  20. 20Carrie9581.0%
  21. 21Maude9231.0%
  22. 22Bessie9031.0%
  23. 23Mabel8931.0%
  24. 24Gertrude7910.9%
  25. 25Ethel7880.9%
  26. 26Jennie7840.9%
  27. 27Edith7780.8%
  28. 28Hattie7750.8%
  29. 29Mattie7540.8%
  30. 30Julia7370.8%
  31. 31Rose7340.8%
  32. 32Lillian7230.8%
  33. 33Lillie6780.7%
  34. 34Eva6610.7%
  35. 35Jessie6610.7%
  36. 36Lula6550.7%
  37. 37Myrtle6430.7%
  38. 38Pearl6410.7%
  39. 39Edna6370.7%
  40. 40Catherine6350.7%
  41. 41Ada6280.7%
  42. 42Louise6170.7%
  43. 43Helen6120.7%
  44. 44Lucy6110.7%
  45. 45Frances5860.6%
  46. 46Dora5850.6%
  47. 47Fannie5650.6%
  48. 48Josephine5630.6%
  49. 49Daisy5620.6%
  50. 50Lena5550.6%
  51. 51Maggie5320.6%
  52. 52Katherine5040.5%
  53. 53Rosa5000.5%
  54. 54Marie4990.5%
  55. 55Nora4980.5%
  56. 56Effie4630.5%
  57. 57Blanche4560.5%
  58. 58May4510.5%
  59. 59Nancy4290.5%
  60. 60Della4280.5%
  61. 61Agnes4240.5%
  62. 62Nettie4190.5%
  63. 63Sallie4160.5%
  64. 64Stella4160.5%
  65. 65Ellen4130.4%
  66. 66Mamie4120.4%
  67. 67Lizzie3960.4%
  68. 68Susie3670.4%
  69. 69Sadie3660.4%
  70. 70Elsie3440.4%
  71. 71Maud3280.4%
  72. 72Flora3170.3%
  73. 73Caroline3160.3%
  74. 74Etta3160.3%
  75. 75Mae3140.3%
  76. 76Lulu3130.3%
  77. 77Lydia2990.3%
  78. 78Alma2930.3%
  79. 79Susan2920.3%
  80. 80Lottie2890.3%
  81. 81Addie2870.3%
  82. 82Mollie2810.3%
  83. 83Katie2790.3%
  84. 84Ruth2750.3%
  85. 85Harriet2700.3%
  86. 86Kate2670.3%
  87. 87Amanda2630.3%
  88. 88Nannie2580.3%
  89. 89Georgia2560.3%
  90. 90Emily2440.3%
  91. 91Eliza2380.3%
  92. 92Viola2370.3%
  93. 93Amelia2350.3%
  94. 94Willie2290.2%
  95. 95Charlotte2270.2%
  96. 96Rebecca2260.2%
  97. 97Belle2190.2%
  98. 98Kathryn2180.2%
  99. 99Jane2160.2%
  100. 100Olive2110.2%

Boys’ names

  1. 1John8,7688.7%
  2. 2William8,5248.5%
  3. 3James5,4415.4%
  4. 4George4,6644.6%
  5. 5Charles4,6364.6%
  6. 6Frank2,8342.8%
  7. 7Joseph2,4562.4%
  8. 8Henry2,3392.3%
  9. 9Thomas2,2822.3%
  10. 10Edward2,1772.2%
  11. 11Robert2,1402.1%
  12. 12Harry2,0022.0%
  13. 13Walter1,6701.7%
  14. 14Arthur1,5751.6%
  15. 15Fred1,4181.4%
  16. 16Albert1,3191.3%
  17. 17Samuel9190.9%
  18. 18David7500.7%
  19. 19Louis7460.7%
  20. 20Charlie6680.7%
  21. 21Clarence6680.7%
  22. 22Richard6410.6%
  23. 23Joe6390.6%
  24. 24Andrew5880.6%
  25. 25Ernest5710.6%
  26. 26Will5500.5%
  27. 27Jesse5360.5%
  28. 28Oscar5300.5%
  29. 29Daniel5270.5%
  30. 30Willie4980.5%
  31. 31Benjamin4810.5%
  32. 32Sam4810.5%
  33. 33Alfred4660.5%
  34. 34Roy4400.4%
  35. 35Lewis4390.4%
  36. 36Frederick4330.4%
  37. 37Peter4280.4%
  38. 38Elmer3880.4%
  39. 39Jacob3810.4%
  40. 40Herbert3690.4%
  41. 41Carl3590.4%
  42. 42Howard3590.4%
  43. 43Tom3490.3%
  44. 44Lee3420.3%
  45. 45Ralph3290.3%
  46. 46Martin3270.3%
  47. 47Jim3230.3%
  48. 48Earl3140.3%
  49. 49Eugene3140.3%
  50. 50Bert3120.3%
  51. 51Edgar3120.3%
  52. 52Herman3040.3%
  53. 53Claude3020.3%
  54. 54Michael2980.3%
  55. 55Paul2910.3%
  56. 56Ben2890.3%
  57. 57Ira2860.3%
  58. 58Harvey2820.3%
  59. 59Chester2740.3%
  60. 60Edwin2740.3%
  61. 61Ed2720.3%
  62. 62Charley2660.3%
  63. 63Francis2590.3%
  64. 64Isaac2580.3%
  65. 65Luther2490.2%
  66. 66Lawrence2440.2%
  67. 67Oliver2380.2%
  68. 68Clyde2320.2%
  69. 69Otto2210.2%
  70. 70Hugh2190.2%
  71. 71Alexander2090.2%
  72. 72Leonard2060.2%
  73. 73Jack1970.2%
  74. 74Raymond1950.2%
  75. 75Patrick1880.2%
  76. 76Guy1860.2%
  77. 77Homer1810.2%
  78. 78Floyd1780.2%
  79. 79Theodore1780.2%
  80. 80Allen1720.2%
  81. 81August1720.2%
  82. 82Marion1620.2%
  83. 83Philip1560.2%
  84. 84Warren1560.2%
  85. 85Horace1520.2%
  86. 86Dan1480.1%
  87. 87Ray1480.1%
  88. 88Garfield1470.1%
  89. 89Stephen1470.1%
  90. 90Emil1450.1%
  91. 91Jessie1430.1%
  92. 92Milton1430.1%
  93. 93Willis1420.1%
  94. 94Calvin1380.1%
  95. 95Dave1350.1%
  96. 96Bernard1300.1%
  97. 97Julius1290.1%
  98. 98Leroy1290.1%
  99. 99Sidney1290.1%
  100. 100Anthony1280.1%

Percentages are each name’s share of all 1881 applications for that sex — a useful reminder of how much more concentrated naming used to be. In 1880 the top girls’ name alone accounted for several percent of all girls; today the #1 name is well under one percent.

Counts are based on U.S. births and are tracked separately for girls and boys. Names used fewer than 5 times in a year aren’t published for that year, so totals here are a floor — the shortfall is largest in the sparse early years.