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 we track.
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 in our records, 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 6874th 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

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.