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.
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#1,537Rafael Rafael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God heals."65 in the 1880s 9 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
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#1,546Ronald Ronald is a boy's name from the Old Norse Rögnvaldr, meaning ruler's counsel, brought to Scotland by Norse settlement.63 in the 1880s 6 of 10 years
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#1,547Billy Billy is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protector."63 in the 1880s 9 of 10 years
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#1,563Lindsay Lindsay and Lindsey are the same place — a district of Lincolnshire that was effectively an island in fen.62 in the 1880s 8 of 10 years
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#1,570Archer Archer is a boy's name of English origin meaning "bowman."61 in the 1880s 8 of 10 years
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#1,584Graham Graham is a boy's name of English origin meaning "gravelly homestead," from Grantham in Lincolnshire.61 in the 1880s 9 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 The statistics offices do not publish names given to very few children in a year, so a gap can also mean the count dropped below the threshold rather than to nothing.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.