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

#385
Sylvester Sylvester means of the woods, and a pope carried it into the calendar — Sylvester I died on 31 December, which is why New Year's Eve is still called Silvester across much of Europe.
796 in the 1880s
#386
Hester
796 in the 1880s
#387
Virgie
790 in the 1880s
#388
Glenn Glenn is a boy's name from the Gaelic word for a narrow valley, and like Craig and Dale it is a plain landscape noun.
787 in the 1880s
#389
Hallie Hallie is a girl's name with more than one line.
785 in the 1880s
#390
Lenora
785 in the 1880s
#391
Fredrick Fredrick is an American respelling that ranks higher in England and Wales than in the United States — 934th against 1730th, which reverses the usual direction for a respelling.
783 in the 1880s
#392
Lettie
783 in the 1880s
#393
Lilly Lilly is a girl's name of Latin origin taken from the flower, from lilium.
781 in the 1880s
#394
Mike Mike is a boy's name, the short form of Michael, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
779 in the 1880s
#395
Abraham Abraham is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "father of many."
776 in the 1880s
#396
Helena Helena is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is unresolved, and its saint is credited with finding the True Cross.
775 in the 1880s
#397
Silas Silas is a boy's name generally understood as a Greek form of the Aramaic Seila, itself corresponding to the Hebrew Saul, meaning "asked for" or "prayed for."
775 in the 1880s
#398
Mina
773 in the 1880s
#399
Irvin Irvin names a Scottish river valley, and the green water reading describes the water rather than the banks — Brittonic river names usually record color or behavior, not the land beside them.
770 in the 1880s
#400
Teresa Teresa is a girl's name whose meaning is genuinely uncertain, though harvester is the usual reading.
769 in the 1880s
#401
Jeanette Jeanette means God is gracious, a French double diminutive of Jeanne.
767 in the 1880s
#402
Max Max is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "greatest."
765 in the 1880s
#403
Owen Owen is a boy's name of Welsh origin, the anglicized form of Owain.
758 in the 1880s
#404
Christopher Christopher is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "bearer of Christ," from Christos and pherein, to carry.
752 in the 1880s
#405
Ellis Ellis is a name of Hebrew origin meaning "the Lord is my God."
748 in the 1880s
#406
Reuben Reuben is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "behold, a son."
741 in the 1880s
#407
Irma Irma means whole or complete, and it is the surviving fragment of much longer Germanic names — Irmgard and Irmintrud both begin with it, and only the first element outlasted them.
733 in the 1880s
#408
Nicholas Nicholas is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "victory of the people," from nike, victory, and laos, the people.
730 in the 1880s
#409
Lura
727 in the 1880s
#410
Wiley
726 in the 1880s
#411
Marvin Marvin is a boy's name from the Welsh Merfyn, and the sea friend reading usually given for it is not supported — the Welsh elements point to marrow and eminent instead.
726 in the 1880s
#412
Eli Eli is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "ascent" or "my God," depending on which Hebrew name it represents.
721 in the 1880s
#413
Fanny Fanny means Frenchwoman, shortened from Frances — and it fell out of English-speaking use for reasons of slang while remaining an ordinary name in France, which is why France still ranks it 1059th.
716 in the 1880s
#414
Gertie
710 in the 1880s
#415
Edmund Edmund was England's patron saint before George — Edmund the Martyr, king of East Anglia, was killed by a Viking army in 869 and held that position for some three hundred years before a crusader saint displaced him.
708 in the 1880s
#416
Jeannette Jeannette means God is gracious, a French double diminutive of Jeanne — and the -ette ending is doing the same work twice, since Jeanne is already a feminine of Jean.
705 in the 1880s
#417
Cleveland
702 in the 1880s
#418
Lucile Lucile means light, and France ranks it 467th while the United States has it at 5006th — a French name that America had and lost, having peaked there in 1917.
701 in the 1880s
#419
Linnie
696 in the 1880s
#420
Curtis Curtis is a boy's name from a Norman French nickname meaning courteous, and it is one of very few names that describes manners rather than birth, appearance or trade.
695 in the 1880s
#421
Timothy Timothy is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "honoring God."
693 in the 1880s
#422
Lila Lila is a girl's name with two unrelated origins: the Arabic layla, meaning "night," and the Sanskrit līlā, meaning "divine play" — a concept in Hindu philosophy for creation as a form of play.
691 in the 1880s
#423
Jeff Jeff means peace, shortened from Geoffrey — but the first element of that compound is disputed between three different Germanic words, so only the peace half of the name is actually agreed on by the sources.
685 in the 1880s
#424
Harley Harley is a name of Old English origin meaning "hare's meadow."
685 in the 1880s
#425
Lily Lily is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "lily flower," from lilium.
680 in the 1880s
#426
Wilhelmina
680 in the 1880s
#427
Anton
674 in the 1880s
#428
Mittie
673 in the 1880s
#429
Lida
664 in the 1880s
#430
Geneva Geneva is not named after the Swiss city — it is a form of Genevieve, whose own meaning is unsettled, and the city's name comes from a Celtic word for a bend or estuary entirely separately.
663 in the 1880s
#431
Marian Marian is a girl's name that either joins Mary and Ann or diminutives Mary alone — the sources disagree.
662 in the 1880s
#432
Minerva
661 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.