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 we track.
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 we track.
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

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1880 and 1889, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1880s names" you will find elsewhere is somebody's sense of the period; this one is the register.

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.