1880s Baby Names

3,546 names were given to children in the United States between 1880 and 1889, ranked below by how many.

A name's place is its total across those ten years. Names that appear in only some of the decade say so, because a name recorded once is a different fact from one recorded every year.

All Girls Boys Unisex

Rankings for

#1
Mary Mary is a girl's name of Hebrew origin whose meaning has never been settled.
92,030 in the 1880s
#2
John John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "Yahweh is gracious," from Yochanan.
90,394 in the 1880s
#3
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
85,246 in the 1880s
#4
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
54,322 in the 1880s
#5
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
47,980 in the 1880s
#6
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
46,879 in the 1880s
#7
Anna Anna is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor," the Greek and Latin form of Hannah.
38,320 in the 1880s
#8
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
31,135 in the 1880s
#9
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
26,404 in the 1880s
#10
Emma Emma is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "whole" or "universal," from the element ermen, found in older names such as Ermintrude.
25,512 in the 1880s
#11
Elizabeth Elizabeth is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," from Elisheva, the name of Aaron's wife in the Book of Exodus.
25,113 in the 1880s
#12
Henry Henry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler," from heim, meaning home or estate, and ric, meaning ruler or power.
24,289 in the 1880s
#13
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
24,193 in the 1880s
#14
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
23,841 in the 1880s
#15
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
23,202 in the 1880s
#16
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
22,747 in the 1880s
#17
Margaret Margaret is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl," from margarites.
21,894 in the 1880s
#18
Minnie Minnie Mouse did not make Minnie popular.
21,817 in the 1880s
#19
Ida Ida is a girl's name from a Germanic word for work or labor, and it charts in all seven markets.
18,358 in the 1880s
#20
Bertha Bertha is a girl's name from a Germanic word meaning bright, and it was Charlemagne's mother's name.
18,351 in the 1880s
#21
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
18,255 in the 1880s
#22
Clara Clara is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "bright" or "clear," from clarus.
17,800 in the 1880s
#23
Alice Alice is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," arrived at by a long contraction of Adelaide.
17,198 in the 1880s
#24
Annie Annie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace" or "favor."
17,106 in the 1880s
#25
Florence Florence is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "blossoming" or "flourishing."
16,815 in the 1880s
#26
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
16,246 in the 1880s
#27
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
15,706 in the 1880s
#28
Bessie Bessie is a girl's name meaning God is my oath, a pet form of Elizabeth.
15,431 in the 1880s
#29
Grace Grace is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "favor" or "blessing," from gratia.
15,276 in the 1880s
#30
Ethel Ethel is a girl's name from an Old English word meaning noble, and it is not a name in its own right in that language — it is the first half of longer names like Ethelred, cut off and used alone.
14,939 in the 1880s
#31
Sarah Sarah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
14,746 in the 1880s
#32
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
14,429 in the 1880s
#33
Ella Ella is a girl's name with two distinct origins. The Norman French line derives from the Germanic element ali, meaning other or foreign, while a Hebrew line gives Ella as a word for a terebinth tree.
13,967 in the 1880s
#34
Martha Martha is a girl's name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house."
13,958 in the 1880s
#35
Nellie Nellie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "shining light."
13,826 in the 1880s
#36
Mabel Mabel is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "lovable."
13,127 in the 1880s
#37
Laura Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," the tree whose leaves crowned Roman victors and poets.
12,833 in the 1880s
#38
Carrie Carrie is a girl's name, a pet form of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
12,563 in the 1880s
#39
Cora Cora is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "maiden," from kore.
12,003 in the 1880s
#40
Helen Helen is a girl's name from Greek whose meaning is not settled, though torch and shining are the usual readings.
11,527 in the 1880s
#41
Pearl Pearl is a girl's name taken from the gem, and it charts in all seven markets.
11,507 in the 1880s
#42
Maude Maude belonged to the woman who nearly became England's first ruling queen — the Empress Matilda fought her cousin for the throne through nineteen years of civil war the chroniclers called the Anarchy.
11,502 in the 1880s
#43
Lillian Lillian is a girl's name usually explained as an elaboration of Lily, from the Latin lilium, and sometimes as a variant of Elizabeth by way of the medieval pet form Lilian.
11,308 in the 1880s
#44
Gertrude Gertrude is a girl's name from Germanic elements meaning spear-strength, and its saint is patron of cats — a modern attribution that no medieval source supports.
11,132 in the 1880s
#45
Rose Rose is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the flower, from rosa.
11,122 in the 1880s
#46
Edna Edna is a girl's name from a Hebrew word meaning delight, and it shares its root with Eden.
11,066 in the 1880s
#47
Jessie Jessie is a name that arrives from two unrelated directions — the Scottish pet form of Janet, and a feminine of the Hebrew Jesse.
11,030 in the 1880s
#48
Edith Edith is a girl's name of Old English origin meaning "prosperous in war."
10,930 in the 1880s

What Made a 1880s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1880 and 1889. A name's position here is how many of them were.

Why Some Names Only Cover Part of the Decade

A name that appears in three of the ten years either arrived partway through or faded out — and either is more interesting than the total on its own. The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.

Where to Go Next

Open any name to see its full curve — most of these have a hundred and forty years of it. Or compare the ends of the same measurement: the most popular names now and the rarest.