1890s Baby Names

4,411 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

#625
Ervin
510 in the 1890s
#626
Wilfred Wilfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "desiring peace."
510 in the 1890s
#627
Wayne Wayne is an occupational surname meaning a wagon maker, and its life as a given name follows one man — John Wayne, who was born Marion Robert Morrison and renamed by a studio.
509 in the 1890s
#628
Odessa
508 in the 1890s
#629
Vina
506 in the 1890s
#630
Clark Clark means a clergyman, and the job drifted — a clericus was in holy orders, but since the clergy were the ones who could write, the word slid across to mean anyone who kept records, which is what a clerk still is.
505 in the 1890s
#631
Abe
504 in the 1890s
#632
Rosella
502 in the 1890s
#633
Earle
501 in the 1890s
#634
Andy Andy means manly, and the Greek root is the ordinary word for a man — so Andrew is one of the few apostles carrying a Greek name rather than a Hebrew or Aramaic one.
495 in the 1890s
#635
Pearle
495 in the 1890s
#636
Eli Eli is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "ascent" or "my God," depending on which Hebrew name it represents.
492 in the 1890s
#637
Mandy Mandy means she who must be loved, and the grammar matters — Amanda is a Latin gerundive, a form expressing obligation, so the name is closer to an instruction than a description.
490 in the 1890s
#638
Tony Tony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning has never been established.
485 in the 1890s
#639
Sudie
481 in the 1890s
#640
Rhea Rhea is a girl's name of Greek origin borne by the Titan who was mother of Zeus.
481 in the 1890s
#641
Jeanne Jeanne is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious," the French feminine of Jean.
480 in the 1890s
#642
Una
480 in the 1890s
#643
Ava Ava is a girl's name with several proposed origins rather than one settled root.
479 in the 1890s
#644
Elisabeth Elisabeth is a girl's name meaning God is my oath, and the s-spelling is the older one — it follows the Greek and German, while the English z is a later change.
479 in the 1890s
#645
Mckinley
478 in the 1890s
#646
Iola
471 in the 1890s
#647
Edmond Edmond means wealthy protector, and its saint was a king shot with arrows by Danes — Edmund of East Anglia was England's patron for three centuries before George replaced him.
469 in the 1890s
#648
Agatha
468 in the 1890s
#649
Grady Grady means noble, and it comes from a byname rather than a rank — the Irish grádha describes someone held in esteem, which is a reputation earned rather than a title inherited.
468 in the 1890s
#650
Elise Elise is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my oath," a short form of Elizabeth.
465 in the 1890s
#651
Lilla
465 in the 1890s
#652
Lauretta
464 in the 1890s
#653
Lennie
463 in the 1890s
#654
Augustus Augustus is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "venerable" or "consecrated".
461 in the 1890s
#655
Loyd
460 in the 1890s
#656
Carmen Carmen has two unrelated sources — the Latin word for a song, and a Spanish Marian title from Mount Carmel in Israel.
460 in the 1890s
#657
Dona
459 in the 1890s
#658
Antonia Antonia has no known meaning, and the flower reading given everywhere is a Renaissance invention — humanists attached the Greek anthos to a Roman family name that has never been explained.
456 in the 1890s
#659
Iona Iona is a girl's name taken from the Hebridean island where Columba founded his monastery — and the island's name exists because a medieval scribe misread a letter.
455 in the 1890s
#660
Vernie
454 in the 1890s
#661
Molly Molly is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, a pet form of Mary whose meaning has never been settled — the candidates are "bitter" and "beloved."
454 in the 1890s
#662
Hortense Hortense is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "of the garden," from hortus.
454 in the 1890s
#663
Emanuel Emanuel began as a sign rather than a name — Isaiah tells Ahaz that a child will be called God with us as proof of a prophecy, and the phrase became a personal name only afterward.
453 in the 1890s
#664
Corine
449 in the 1890s
#665
Ike
448 in the 1890s
#666
Miles Miles is a boy's name of disputed origin, usually connected to the Latin miles, meaning soldier.
443 in the 1890s
#667
Zola
442 in the 1890s
#668
Donna Donna is a girl's name from the Italian word for a lady, a title used as a name.
440 in the 1890s
#669
Lorraine Lorraine is a girl's name from the French region, whose own name means the kingdom of Lothair — a Frankish king's realm that was carved out of Charlemagne's empire and slowly disappeared.
440 in the 1890s
#670
Eileen Eileen is a girl's name anglicizing the Irish Eibhlín, and its meaning is unsettled — it may render Helen, or Evelyn, or a native Irish name.
438 in the 1890s
#671
Lovie
435 in the 1890s
#672
Lorene Lorene reaches the laurel by the long way round — Laurentum was a town named for its bay trees, and the personal name says which town someone came from rather than which plant crowned them.
435 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.