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

#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
#100
Beatrice Beatrice is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "she who brings happiness."
7,516 in the 1890s
#101
Ellen Ellen is a girl's name of Greek origin, a medieval English form of Helen whose meaning has never been settled.
7,457 in the 1890s
#102
Charlie Charlie is a name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
7,445 in the 1890s
#103
Sadie Sadie is a girl's name that began as a pet form of Sarah, the Hebrew name meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
7,403 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
#106
Effie Effie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "well-spoken."
7,000 in the 1890s
#107
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
6,984 in the 1890s
#108
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.
6,922 in the 1890s
#109
Beulah Beulah means married, and it is a place before it is a person — Isaiah calls the restored land Beulah, and Bunyan turned it into the country just short of heaven in Pilgrim's Progress.
6,797 in the 1890s
#110
Pauline Pauline is a girl's name from the Latin for small or humble, the feminine of Paul.
6,652 in the 1890s
#111
Susie Susie means lily, shortened from Susan, and the Hebrew word was borrowed from Egyptian — where it may have named a lotus rather than a lily, which changes the flower entirely.
6,548 in the 1890s
#112
Nettie Nettie is a suffix that became a name — it is the tail end of Antoinette, Jeanette and Annette, cut loose and used on its own, so it began as the part of a name that carried no meaning at all.
6,543 in the 1890s
#113
Della Della has no single parent — it shortens Adela, Delia and Adelaide alike, and it is reviving, at 563rd in the United States and 1,010th in Scotland.
6,420 in the 1890s
#114
Vera Vera is a girl's name with two origins that both work. In Russian it means "faith"; in Latin vera means "true" — and unusually for such a pair, the two senses reinforce rather than contradict each other.
6,383 in the 1890s
#115
Marguerite Marguerite is a girl's name meaning pearl, and it is also the French word for the daisy — so the name carries a flower and a gemstone at once.
6,376 in the 1890s
#116
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.
6,266 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
#118
Lydia Lydia is a girl's name meaning "woman from Lydia," an ancient kingdom in what is now western Turkey.
5,942 in the 1890s
#119
Virginia Virginia is a girl's name from a Roman family name, and the American state was named before the name became common in America — both honoring Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen.
5,875 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
#121
Olive Olive is a girl's name of Latin origin taken from the tree, whose name comes from oliva.
5,731 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
#124
Kathryn Kathryn is a girl's name, the y-spelling of Katherine, and it inherits that name's unknown meaning.
5,660 in the 1890s
#125
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
5,648 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
#127
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
5,625 in the 1890s
#128
Sallie Sallie means princess, and it reached English through a sound swap — Sarah became Sally the way Mary became Molly, with the r softening to an l in ordinary speech.
5,591 in the 1890s
#129
Lizzie Lizzie means my God is an oath, and the oath is the point — Elisheva names a covenant rather than a feeling, which is why the name belonged to the wife of a priest in Exodus.
5,562 in the 1890s
#130
Jesse Jesse is a name of Hebrew origin whose meaning is debated.
5,522 in the 1890s
#131
Lottie Lottie is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man."
5,504 in the 1890s
#132
Emily Emily is a girl's name of Latin origin, from the Roman family name Aemilius.
5,481 in the 1890s
#133
Georgia Georgia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," the feminine of George, from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
5,476 in the 1890s
#134
Flora Flora is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "flower," the Roman goddess whose festival was among the least decorous in the calendar.
5,442 in the 1890s
#135
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
5,386 in the 1890s
#136
Nancy Nancy is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "grace."
5,346 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
#139
Ollie Ollie is a name of Norse origin meaning "ancestor's descendant."
5,190 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
#141
Katie Katie is a girl's name of Greek origin, a diminutive of Katherine whose meaning has never been settled.
5,183 in the 1890s
#142
Lucille Lucille is a girl's name from the Latin for light, given to children born at daybreak.
5,105 in the 1890s
#143
Leona Leona means lioness, and it is reviving across six markets — the United States 429th, France 556th, Scotland 631st, Ireland 705th and England and Wales 716th, all within 290 places.
5,083 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

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.