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

#49
Jennie Jennie began as a Scottish pet form of Jean and only later attached to Jennifer, which is a Cornish name with no connection to it.
10,241 in the 1880s
#50
Hattie Hattie is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
10,216 in the 1880s
#51
Mattie Mattie serves two entirely unrelated names — Martha, which is Aramaic for a lady, and Matilda, which is Germanic for might in battle.
9,876 in the 1880s
#52
Julia Julia is a girl's name of Latin origin, the feminine of the Roman family name Julius.
9,838 in the 1880s
#53
Eva Eva is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "life" or "living."
9,811 in the 1880s
#54
Myrtle Myrtle means the evergreen shrub, and it was the plant of Aphrodite — carried by Greek and Roman brides long before the Victorians made it a name.
9,810 in the 1880s
#55
Louise Louise is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior," the French feminine form of Louis.
9,647 in the 1880s
#56
Lillie Lillie is a girl's name from the flower, which has stood for purity in Christian art for so long that the association predates the name.
9,507 in the 1880s
#57
Frances Frances is a girl's name meaning a Frank, or a free one, and the feminine of Francis.
9,321 in the 1880s
#58
Willie Willie is a pet form of William meaning resolute protector, and one of the more mixed names on record — a quarter of the births we hold are female, which is unusual for a name read today as male.
9,303 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
#60
Catherine Catherine is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is unknown — the familiar reading of pure is a later reshaping, not the original sense.
8,933 in the 1880s
#61
Lula Lula has no single parent — it shortens Louise, Lucille and Tallulah alike, and it is reviving, ranking 1,306th in England and Wales against 1,938th in the United States.
8,887 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
#63
Lena Lena is a girl's name used as a short form of Helena, Magdalena and Elena, so it usually carries the sense "light" or "torch."
8,699 in the 1880s
#64
Marie Marie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, the French form of Mary, and the largest name in the birth records with more than 2.8 million births on record.
8,511 in the 1880s
#65
Ada Ada is a girl's name with two origins. In Germanic it is a short form of names beginning with adal, noble; in Hebrew, Adah means "adornment" and belongs to two women in Genesis.
8,451 in the 1880s
#66
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
8,338 in the 1880s
#67
Josephine Josephine is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the French feminine form of Joseph.
7,749 in the 1880s
#68
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
7,589 in the 1880s
#69
Fannie Fannie means Frenchwoman, shortened from Frances, and it left English-speaking use for reasons of slang rather than fashion — the word acquired a sense the name could not survive.
7,546 in the 1880s
#70
Lucy Lucy is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "light," from lux.
7,525 in the 1880s
#71
Dora Dora means gift, and it is the end of several names rather than a name in its own right — Theodora, Isidora and Dorothea all supply it, and Dorothy means the same thing with the halves reversed.
7,341 in the 1880s
#72
Agnes Agnes is a girl's name from the Greek for pure, and the reason its saint is shown with a lamb is a Latin pun — agnus, lamb, sounds like the Greek hagnos but is a completely different word.
7,242 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
#74
Charlie Charlie is a name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
7,174 in the 1880s
#75
Maggie Maggie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "pearl."
7,072 in the 1880s
#76
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
7,038 in the 1880s
#77
Blanche Blanche means white, and its revival is entirely French — 252nd in France on 220 births against 6,874th in the United States.
6,936 in the 1880s
#78
Katherine Katherine is a girl's name whose meaning is not settled.
6,927 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 1,042nd in the United States.
6,727 in the 1880s
#80
Elsie Elsie is a girl's name that began as a Scottish short form of Elspeth, itself a Scottish form of Elizabeth.
6,677 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
#82
Nora Nora is a girl's name that developed as a short form of longer names, chiefly Honora and Eleanor, and is now used independently.
6,557 in the 1880s
#83
Mamie Mamie has no single parent — it shortens Mary, Margaret and Miriam alike, and Mary's own meaning has never been established, so the name inherits an unresolved question three ways.
6,341 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
#85
Rosa Rosa is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "rose."
6,162 in the 1880s
#86
Stella Stella is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "star."
6,135 in the 1880s
#87
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
6,095 in the 1880s
#88
Daisy Daisy is a girl's name of English origin naming the flower, and its meaning is unusually literal: daisy comes from the Old English dægesege, "day's eye," because the flower opens its petals at dawn and closes them at dusk.
6,077 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
#91
May May has three separate sources that English cannot tell apart — the month, the hawthorn blossom that opens in it, and a short form of Mary and Margaret.
5,933 in the 1880s
#92
Effie Effie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "well-spoken."
5,876 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
#94
Mae Mae is a girl's name in France, generally read as a form of Mae or as a feminine of the Breton Mahé.
5,652 in the 1880s
#95
Ellen Ellen is a girl's name of Greek origin, a medieval English form of Helen whose meaning has never been settled.
5,414 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

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.