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

#385
Nathan Nathan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he gave," from Natan.
1,180 in the 1890s
#386
Alva
1,164 in the 1890s
#387
Madge
1,162 in the 1890s
#388
Letha
1,150 in the 1890s
#389
Jerry Jerry is a name that serves as the short form of at least three unrelated names — Jeremiah from Hebrew, Gerald and Gerard from Germanic — so its meaning depends entirely on which one a family had in mind.
1,147 in the 1890s
#390
Helena Helena is a girl's name of Greek origin whose meaning is unresolved, and its saint is credited with finding the True Cross.
1,147 in the 1890s
#391
Gertie
1,143 in the 1890s
#392
Abbie Abbie is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "my father is joy," a short form of Abigail, whose bearer talks David out of a massacre.
1,143 in the 1890s
#393
Wilbur Wilbur ranks 579th in England and Wales against 3956th in the United States, so a name most people think of as thoroughly American is now used more than six times more readily in England.
1,142 in the 1890s
#394
Emmett Emmett is a boy's name of English origin derived from Emma — it is a matronymic surname, formed from a woman's name rather than a man's, which was unusual in medieval England.
1,136 in the 1890s
#395
Matthew Matthew is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "gift of Yahweh," from Mattityahu.
1,132 in the 1890s
#396
Bennie Bennie means son of the right hand, and Jacob renamed the child to get there — his dying mother called him son of my sorrow, and his father would not let the name stand.
1,132 in the 1890s
#397
Faye Faye is a girl's name of Old French origin meaning "fairy," from a word that traces back to the Fates of Roman religion.
1,130 in the 1890s
#398
Nelle
1,125 in the 1890s
#399
Neva
1,125 in the 1890s
#400
Roberta Roberta is a girl's name meaning bright fame, the feminine of Robert.
1,120 in the 1890s
#401
Max Max is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "greatest."
1,112 in the 1890s
#402
Wilma Wilma means resolute protection, and The Flintstones did nothing for it.
1,109 in the 1890s
#403
Lenora
1,108 in the 1890s
#404
Lilly Lilly is a girl's name of Latin origin taken from the flower, from lilium.
1,107 in the 1890s
#405
Meta
1,104 in the 1890s
#406
Calvin Calvin is a boy's name of French origin meaning "little bald one," from the Latin calvus, bald.
1,102 in the 1890s
#407
Olivia Olivia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "olive tree," used as the feminine form of Oliver.
1,099 in the 1890s
#408
Merle Merle means blackbird, and it is one of the genuinely mixed names on this site — 33 percent of the births in our records are female, and our data marks it reviving.
1,095 in the 1890s
#409
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.
1,073 in the 1890s
#410
Claire Claire is a girl's name of French origin meaning "clear" or "bright," from the Latin clarus.
1,070 in the 1890s
#411
Lorena Lorena is a place before it is a person — Lorraine is the land of Lothar, a Frankish king whose kingdom was carved out of Charlemagne's empire and named after him directly.
1,070 in the 1890s
#412
Muriel Muriel means bright sea, from Gaelic, and it reached English twice — once through Irish and Scottish settlement and once through Breton, carried back across the Channel by the Normans.
1,062 in the 1890s
#413
Hubert Hubert means bright mind, and its saint is the patron of hunters — Saint Hubertus, whose stag with a crucifix between its antlers is the emblem on every bottle of Jägermeister.
1,062 in the 1890s
#414
Dessie
1,045 in the 1890s
#415
Lucinda Lucinda was invented by Cervantes — the name appears in Don Quixote in 1605 and has no record before it, which makes it one of the few names on this site with a datable author.
1,042 in the 1890s
#416
Jess
1,036 in the 1890s
#417
Margie Margie means pearl, carried from Margaret — and the Greek behind it may be a loan from an Indo-Iranian source, so the word for the gem traveled a long way before it became a name.
1,034 in the 1890s
#418
Rita Rita is a girl's name meaning pearl, clipped from the end of Margarita rather than the front.
1,029 in the 1890s
#419
Vincent Vincent is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "conquering," from vincere, to conquer.
1,027 in the 1890s
#420
Amos
1,023 in the 1890s
#421
Lettie
1,019 in the 1890s
#422
Wilhelmina
1,018 in the 1890s
#423
Lessie
1,015 in the 1890s
#424
Mina
1,009 in the 1890s
#425
Jimmie Jimmie means supplanter, shortened from James, and about 17 percent of the births in our records are female — a much higher share than most nickname-names of this shape, which usually resolve firmly to one side or the other.
1,009 in the 1890s
#426
Perry Perry means at the pear tree, from an English place name — and our data marks it reviving, at 1373rd in the United States and 1681st in England and Wales.
1,009 in the 1890s
#427
Ila
1,006 in the 1890s
#428
Rudolph Rudolph means famous wolf, and the reindeer was invented to sell things — a Montgomery Ward copywriter wrote him for a giveaway booklet in 1939, which makes him a corporate creation rather than a folk one.
998 in the 1890s
#429
Glen Glen means a narrow valley, and it is one of very few Gaelic words that English borrowed wholesale rather than adapting to its own sounds.
997 in the 1890s
#430
Corinne Corinne is a girl's name from the Greek for a maiden, and it was borne by a poet said to have beaten Pindar five times in competition.
993 in the 1890s
#431
Harrison Harrison is a boy's name of English origin meaning "son of Harry."
991 in the 1890s
#432
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.
990 in the 1890s

What made a 1890s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1890 and 1899, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1890s 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.