1880s Baby Names
1,740 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.
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#1,474Hollie Hollie is a girl's name from the holly tree, whose name comes from a word meaning "prickly" rather than anything festive.72 in the 1880s 8 of 10 years
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#1,494Miranda Miranda was coined by Shakespeare for The Tempest around 1611, from the Latin for to be wondered at.70 in the 1880s 9 of 10 years
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#1,495Suzanne Suzanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "lily," from shoshannah.70 in the 1880s 9 of 10 years
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#1,496Allison Allison is a girl's name of Norman French origin, from Alis — the medieval form of Alice — plus a diminutive ending.70 in the 1880s 9 of 10 years
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#1,502Alicia Alicia is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble," a Latinate form of Alice.69 in the 1880s 8 of 10 years
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#1,503Jo Jo is a name serving as the short form of Joanne, Josephine and Joan for women and Joseph for men.69 in the 1880s 8 of 10 years
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#1,518Courtney Courtney is a name from a Norman family whose surname is usually read as short nose, though a place-name derivation competes.67 in the 1880s 8 of 10 years
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#1,544Cara Cara is a girl's name with two independent sources: the Italian cara, meaning "dear" or "beloved," and the Irish cara, meaning "friend."63 in the 1880s 8 of 10 years
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 The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.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.