1900s Baby Names

1,838 names were given to children in the United States between 1900 and 1909, 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.
85,070 in the 1900s
#4
William William is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "resolute protection," from wil, meaning will or desire, and helm, meaning helmet.
69,646 in the 1900s
#5
James James is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, an English form of Jacob by way of Late Latin Iacomus.
62,527 in the 1900s
#9
George George is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer" or "worker of the earth," from ge, earth, and ergon, work.
43,924 in the 1900s
#13
Charles Charles is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man," from karl.
36,428 in the 1900s
#16
Robert Robert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "bright fame," from hrod, fame, and beraht, bright.
36,046 in the 1900s
#18
Joseph Joseph is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," from Yosef.
35,346 in the 1900s
#24
Frank Frank is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "free man" or "Frank."
29,240 in the 1900s
#29
Edward Edward is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "wealthy guardian."
24,601 in the 1900s
#39
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.
21,970 in the 1900s
#40
Thomas Thomas is a boy's name of Aramaic origin meaning "twin," from te'oma.
21,929 in the 1900s
#45
Walter Walter is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning ruler of the army.
20,126 in the 1900s
#56
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
18,003 in the 1900s
#65
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
15,505 in the 1900s
#67
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
15,402 in the 1900s
#73
Clarence Clarence is a boy's name taken from an English dukedom, itself named for a Suffolk town.
13,651 in the 1900s
#77
Fred Fred is a boy's name, the short form of Frederick meaning peaceful ruler.
13,169 in the 1900s
#78
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.
12,849 in the 1900s
#80
Paul Paul is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "small" or "humble," borne by the apostle whose letters shaped Christian doctrine.
12,729 in the 1900s
#85
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
11,688 in the 1900s
#88
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.
10,759 in the 1900s
#89
Richard Richard is a boy's name from Germanic roots meaning strong or brave ruler.
10,734 in the 1900s
#90
Roy Roy is a boy's name with two independent sources — the Gaelic ruadh, meaning red-haired, and the French roi, meaning king.
10,714 in the 1900s
#92
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
10,498 in the 1900s
#100
Carl Carl is a boy's name from the Germanic word for a free man, the same root as Charles.
9,951 in the 1900s
#104
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.
9,387 in the 1900s
#105
Ralph Ralph is a boy's name of Norse origin meaning "wolf counsel."
9,331 in the 1900s
#107
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.
9,269 in the 1900s
#109
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 1042nd in the United States.
8,715 in the 1900s
#110
David David is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "beloved," from Dawid.
8,661 in the 1900s
#111
Francis Francis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "Frenchman" or "free man."
8,450 in the 1900s
#117
Samuel Samuel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin usually translated as "God has heard," from Shemu'el.
8,173 in the 1900s
#118
Howard Howard is a boy's name whose origin is genuinely contested — high guardian, brave heart and even a keeper of pigs have all been proposed.
8,061 in the 1900s
#132
Herbert Herbert is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning bright army.
6,975 in the 1900s
#133
Lawrence Lawrence is a boy's name meaning from Laurentum, an ancient Italian town linked to the laurel.
6,895 in the 1900s
#138
Theodore Theodore is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "gift of God," formed from theos, meaning god, and doron, meaning gift.
6,519 in the 1900s
#141
Alfred Alfred is a boy's name of Old English origin meaning "elf counsel."
6,380 in the 1900s
#142
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.
6,309 in the 1900s
#143
Andrew Andrew is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "manly" or "brave," from andreios, from aner, a man.
6,277 in the 1900s
#144
Sam Sam is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God has heard," a short form of Samuel.
6,226 in the 1900s
#150
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.
6,002 in the 1900s
#154
Leo Leo is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "lion."
5,784 in the 1900s
#168
Michael Michael is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?" — a rhetorical question expecting the answer that no one is.
5,232 in the 1900s
#171
Clyde Clyde took nothing from Bonnie and Clyde.
5,093 in the 1900s
#172
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.
5,081 in the 1900s
#173
Floyd Floyd is the same name as Lloyd, and the F is a mistake that stuck — English had no way to say the Welsh double L, so it substituted the closest sound it had, and the substitution became a separate name.
5,055 in the 1900s
#174
Anthony Anthony is a boy's name from the Roman family name Antonius, whose meaning is genuinely unknown — it is probably Etruscan rather than Latin.
5,048 in the 1900s
#175
Daniel Daniel is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is my judge," from Daniyyel.
5,048 in the 1900s

What made a 1900s name

Nothing about the sound of it. A name is on this page because children in the United States were registered with it between 1900 and 1909, and its position is simply how many. Every list of "1900s 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.