1890s Baby Names

1,490 names were given to children in the United States between 1890 and 1899, 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.
81,191 in the 1890s
#3
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
72,618 in the 1890s
#5
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
51,005 in the 1890s
#6
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
43,703 in the 1890s
#9
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
37,084 in the 1890s
#14
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
29,187 in the 1890s
#15
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
28,939 in the 1890s
#17
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
26,319 in the 1890s
#28
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
22,134 in the 1890s
#30
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.
21,851 in the 1890s
#31
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
21,431 in the 1890s
#33
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
21,238 in the 1890s
#37
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
19,613 in the 1890s
#46
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.
16,958 in the 1890s
#50
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
16,431 in the 1890s
#55
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
14,395 in the 1890s
#59
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
13,850 in the 1890s
#69
Clarence Clarence is a boy's name taken from an English dukedom, itself named for a Suffolk town.
11,949 in the 1890s
#81
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
9,859 in the 1890s
#89
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
8,544 in the 1890s
#90
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.
8,389 in the 1890s
#92
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
8,238 in the 1890s
#93
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
8,138 in the 1890s
#94
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.
7,919 in the 1890s
#96
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
7,873 in the 1890s
#97
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.
7,682 in the 1890s
#98
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
7,616 in the 1890s
#99
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
7,589 in the 1890s
#104
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
7,361 in the 1890s
#105
Harold Harold is a boy's name from Norse and Old English elements meaning army ruler, and it belongs to the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, killed at Hastings in 1066.
7,052 in the 1890s
#107
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
6,984 in the 1890s
#117
Howard Howard is a boy's name whose origin is contested — high guardian, brave heart and even a keeper of pigs have all been proposed.
5,973 in the 1890s
#120
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.
5,741 in the 1890s
#122
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
5,729 in the 1890s
#123
Herbert Herbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright army.
5,670 in the 1890s
#126
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."
5,629 in the 1890s
#130
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
5,522 in the 1890s
#135
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
5,386 in the 1890s
#137
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.
5,243 in the 1890s
#138
Lee Lee is a name from the Old English word for a woodland clearing, and it is one of the most productive elements in English place names — the ending of Ashley, Bradley, Shirley and Beverly.
5,200 in the 1890s
#140
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
5,185 in the 1890s
#144
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
4,973 in the 1890s
#145
Leo Leo is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "lion."
4,825 in the 1890s
#153
Jack Jack is a boy's name of English origin that began as a pet form of John, by way of the medieval nickname Jankin.
4,659 in the 1890s
#154
Lawrence Lawrence is a boy's name meaning from Laurentum, an ancient Italian town linked to the laurel.
4,622 in the 1890s
#156
Benjamin Benjamin is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "son of the right hand," from Binyamin.
4,460 in the 1890s
#157
Eugene Eugene is a boy's name from the Greek for well-born, and it is the source of the word eugenics — a connection worth knowing, since the name long predates and has nothing to do with that movement.
4,365 in the 1890s
#159
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.
4,252 in the 1890s

What Made a 1890s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1890 and 1899. 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.