1880s Baby Names

1,426 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

#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
#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
#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
#21
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
18,255 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
#32
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
14,429 in the 1880s
#59
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
9,129 in the 1880s
#62
Clarence Clarence is a boy's name taken from an English dukedom, itself named for a Suffolk town.
8,777 in the 1880s
#66
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
8,338 in the 1880s
#68
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
7,589 in the 1880s
#73
Joe Joe is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," a short form of Joseph that has become the English word for an ordinary person.
7,235 in the 1880s
#76
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
7,038 in the 1880s
#79
Ernest Ernest is a boy's name from a Germanic word meaning serious or resolute, and it is far stronger in Europe than in America — 252nd in England and Wales and 276th in France against 1042nd in the United States.
6,727 in the 1880s
#81
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
6,597 in the 1880s
#84
Will Will means will-helmet, and the compound is stranger than it looks — the Germanic joins desire to a piece of armor, so the name reads as protection by determination.
6,246 in the 1880s
#87
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
6,095 in the 1880s
#89
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
6,063 in the 1880s
#90
Oscar Oscar is a boy's name with two competing origins: the Irish os, deer, plus cara, friend, giving "deer lover," or the Old Norse Ásgeirr, meaning "god's spear."
5,992 in the 1880s
#93
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
5,679 in the 1880s
#96
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
5,407 in the 1880s
#100
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
5,261 in the 1880s
#101
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
5,080 in the 1880s
#105
Earl Earl is a boy's name taken from the English noble title, and it is the only rank in the British peerage with a native English name rather than a French one.
4,843 in the 1880s
#107
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
4,837 in the 1880s
#110
Peter Peter is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "rock."
4,662 in the 1880s
#111
Elmer Elmer means noble and famous, and its American popularity is traceable to two brothers — the Ebenezer and Jonathan Elmer who signed early revolutionary documents, after whom patriotic families went on to name sons.
4,642 in the 1880s
#112
Frederick Frederick is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "peaceful ruler."
4,603 in the 1880s
#114
Howard Howard is a boy's name whose origin is genuinely contested — high guardian, brave heart and even a keeper of pigs have all been proposed.
4,362 in the 1880s
#115
Lewis Lewis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior," the English form of Louis.
4,341 in the 1880s
#116
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
4,285 in the 1880s
#117
Herbert Herbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright army.
4,257 in the 1880s
#119
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
4,213 in the 1880s
#123
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
3,915 in the 1880s
#129
Tom Tom is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," a short form of Thomas used as a full name across Europe.
3,798 in the 1880s
#132
Herman Herman means army man, and the German national hero Hermann is a Latin scribe's version of a Cheruscan name we cannot now recover — Arminius, the chief who destroyed three Roman legions in AD 9.
3,689 in the 1880s
#134
Martin Martin is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "of Mars," borne by Saint Martin of Tours, whose cloak gave Europe the word chapel.
3,600 in the 1880s
#136
Jacob Jacob is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "supplanter" or "holder of the heel," from Ya'aqov.
3,566 in the 1880s
#137
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
3,558 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.