1900s Baby Names

5,549 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

#49
Ida Ida is a girl's name from a Germanic word for work or labor, and it charts in all seven markets.
18,939 in the 1900s
#50
Josephine Josephine is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "he will add," the French feminine form of Joseph.
18,860 in the 1900s
#51
Evelyn Evelyn is a girl's name of English and French origin meaning "desired" or "wished for".
18,684 in the 1900s
#52
Elsie Elsie is a girl's name that began as a Scottish short form of Elspeth, itself a Scottish form of Elizabeth.
18,555 in the 1900s
#53
Eva Eva is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "life" or "living."
18,448 in the 1900s
#54
Ruby Ruby is a girl's name of Latin origin naming the red gemstone, from ruber, meaning red.
18,353 in the 1900s
#55
Thelma Thelma is a girl's name invented for a novel in 1887, and the Greek word it was probably built from means "will" or "volition."
18,344 in the 1900s
#56
Harry Harry is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
18,003 in the 1900s
#57
Agnes Agnes is a girl's name from the Greek for pure, and the reason its saint is shown with a lamb is a Latin pun — agnus, lamb, sounds like the Greek hagnos but is a completely different word.
17,694 in the 1900s
#58
Sarah Sarah is a girl's name of Hebrew origin meaning "princess" or "noblewoman."
17,385 in the 1900s
#59
Viola Viola means violet, and it names the flower, the instrument and a Shakespeare heroine from the same Latin root.
16,623 in the 1900s
#60
Nellie Nellie is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "shining light."
16,394 in the 1900s
#61
Beatrice Beatrice is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "she who brings happiness."
16,349 in the 1900s
#62
Julia Julia is a girl's name of Latin origin, the feminine of the Roman family name Julius.
16,152 in the 1900s
#63
Jessie Jessie is a name that arrives from two unrelated directions — the Scottish pet form of Janet, and a feminine of the Hebrew Jesse.
16,135 in the 1900s
#64
Laura Laura is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "laurel," the tree whose leaves crowned Roman victors and poets.
15,578 in the 1900s
#65
Arthur Arthur is a boy's name of disputed origin.
15,505 in the 1900s
#66
Lillie Lillie is a girl's name from the flower, which has stood for purity in Christian art for so long that the association predates the name.
15,463 in the 1900s
#67
Albert Albert is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "noble and bright."
15,402 in the 1900s
#68
Lucille Lucille is a girl's name from the Latin for light, given to children born at daybreak.
15,106 in the 1900s
#69
Ella Ella is a girl's name with two distinct origins. The Norman French line derives from the Germanic element ali, meaning other or foreign, while a Hebrew line gives Ella as a word for a terebinth tree.
14,841 in the 1900s
#70
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.
14,567 in the 1900s
#71
Mattie Mattie serves two entirely unrelated names — Martha, which is Aramaic for a lady, and Matilda, which is Germanic for might in battle.
13,919 in the 1900s
#72
Marion Marion is a French diminutive of Mary that has crossed sexes twice over — it is 81 percent female on record, yet its most famous bearer was John Wayne, born Marion Robert Morrison.
13,680 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
#74
Pauline Pauline is a girl's name from the Latin for small or humble, the feminine of Paul.
13,339 in the 1900s
#75
Carrie Carrie is a girl's name, a pet form of Caroline meaning free man through Charles.
13,206 in the 1900s
#76
Alma Alma is a girl's name with several competing origins: "nourishing" in Latin, "soul" in Spanish, and "young woman" in Hebrew.
13,204 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
#79
Mae Mae is a girl's name in France, generally read as a form of Mae or as a feminine of the Breton Mahé.
12,767 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
#81
Lena Lena is a girl's name used as a short form of Helena, Magdalena and Elena, so it usually carries the sense "light" or "torch."
12,727 in the 1900s
#82
Katherine Katherine is a girl's name whose meaning is not settled.
12,139 in the 1900s
#83
Hattie Hattie is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "home ruler."
11,777 in the 1900s
#84
Blanche Blanche means white, and its revival is entirely French — 252nd in France on 220 births against 6,874th in the United States.
11,759 in the 1900s
#85
Raymond Raymond is a boy's name from Germanic elements meaning counsel and protection.
11,688 in the 1900s
#86
Lucy Lucy is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "light," from lux.
11,069 in the 1900s
#87
Stella Stella is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "star."
11,055 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
#91
Mamie Mamie has no single parent — it shortens Mary, Margaret and Miriam alike, and Mary's own meaning has never been established, so the name inherits an unresolved question three ways.
10,650 in the 1900s
#92
Louis Louis is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "famous warrior."
10,498 in the 1900s
#93
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.
10,478 in the 1900s
#94
Cora Cora is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "maiden," from kore.
10,411 in the 1900s
#95
Fannie Fannie means Frenchwoman, shortened from Frances, and it left English-speaking use for reasons of slang rather than fashion — the word acquired a sense the name could not survive.
10,375 in the 1900s
#96
Bernice Bernice is a girl's name meaning bringer of victory, and it is the same name as Veronica — both descend from the Greek Berenike by different routes.
10,159 in the 1900s

What Made a 1900s Name

Children in the United States were registered with it between 1900 and 1909. 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.