Most popular baby names of 1886

In 1886, the most popular names for US babies were John for boys (9,026 babies, 8.1% of boys) and Mary for girls (9,889 babies, 6.8% of girls). The rest of the top five were William, James, George and Charles for boys and Anna, Emma, Elizabeth and Minnie for girls. SSA recorded 1,110 different boy names and 1,282 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1886
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	John	9,026	–
2	William	8,252	–
3	James	5,355	–
4	George	4,671	–
5	Charles	4,533	–
6	Frank	3,127	–
7	Joseph	2,594	–
8	Robert	2,443	▲ 1
9	Henry	2,404	▼ 1
10	Thomas	2,337	–
11	Edward	2,312	–
12	Harry	2,257	–
13	Walter	1,880	–
14	Arthur	1,656	▲ 1
15	Fred	1,599	▼ 1
16	Albert	1,488	–
17	Clarence	995	–
18	Samuel	870	–
19	Louis	846	–
20	Roy	767	▲ 4
21	Joe	759	▲ 4
22	Charlie	723	▲ 1
23	Richard	720	▲ 3
24	David	674	▼ 2
25	Ernest	668	▼ 4
26	Oscar	645	▲ 2
27	Will	642	–
28	Willie	641	▲ 1
29	Andrew	614	▲ 1
30	Jesse	614	▲ 1
31	Earl	570	▲ 5
32	Carl	556	▲ 2
33	Daniel	555	▼ 1
34	Sam	519	▲ 1
35	Elmer	485	▲ 5
36	Alfred	480	▲ 3
37	Howard	467	▲ 4
38	Paul	466	▲ 5
39	Benjamin	463	▼ 1
40	Frederick	461	▼ 3
41	Ralph	440	▲ 3
42	Peter	437	▼ 9
43	Lewis	431	▼ 1
44	Herman	418	▲ 11
45	Grover	407	▼ 25
46	Herbert	400	▼ 1
47	Lee	399	▲ 3
48	Claude	391	▲ 4
49	Jim	389	▼ 3
50	Tom	383	▼ 2
51	Eugene	362	–
52	Raymond	353	▲ 6
53	Michael	348	▼ 6
54	Jacob	346	▼ 1
55	Francis	344	▲ 1
56	Ben	335	▲ 6
57	Lawrence	331	▲ 7
58	Martin	329	▼ 9
59	Edwin	313	▲ 4
60	Harvey	310	▼ 1
61	Edgar	309	▼ 1
62	Clyde	307	▼ 5
63	Ed	303	▼ 9
64	Jack	299	▼ 3
65	Chester	287	▲ 2
66	Floyd	275	▲ 4
67	Ray	271	▲ 7
68	Otto	270	▲ 1
69	Theodore	258	▲ 15
70	Guy	255	▼ 2
71	Luther	253	–
72	Patrick	249	▲ 5
73	Leo	240	▲ 10
74	Leonard	236	▲ 6
75	Oliver	230	▼ 3
76	Bert	228	▼ 10
77	Hugh	227	▼ 4
78	Harold	224	▲ 4
79	Homer	224	▼ 3
80	Isaac	224	▼ 1
81	Charley	214	▼ 16
82	Allen	211	▲ 5
83	Alexander	206	▼ 5
84	August	203	▲ 2
85	Ira	198	▼ 10
86	Eddie	197	▲ 15
87	Philip	187	▲ 2
88	Marion	182	▲ 15
89	Jessie	181	▼ 8
90	Stephen	181	▲ 3
91	Bernard	180	–
92	Archie	175	▼ 7
93	Anthony	174	▲ 2
94	Julius	173	▲ 3
95	Clifford	172	▲ 9
96	Alex	161	▼ 4
97	Norman	161	▲ 19
98	Lester	160	▲ 4
99	Horace	156	▼ 5
100	Leroy	155	▼ 10

Top 100 girl names, 1886
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Mary	9,889	–
2	Anna	4,283	–
3	Emma	2,764	–
4	Elizabeth	2,680	–
5	Minnie	2,372	▲ 1
6	Margaret	2,275	▼ 1
7	Ida	2,049	▲ 2
8	Bertha	2,001	–
9	Clara	1,916	▼ 2
10	Florence	1,860	▲ 2
11	Alice	1,811	–
12	Bessie	1,791	▲ 1
13	Annie	1,765	▼ 3
14	Grace	1,723	–
15	Ethel	1,699	–
16	Sarah	1,569	▲ 2
17	Nellie	1,492	▼ 1
18	Martha	1,491	▼ 1
19	Ella	1,464	–
20	Mabel	1,422	–
21	Carrie	1,396	▲ 1
22	Laura	1,372	▼ 1
23	Edna	1,314	▲ 7
24	Lillian	1,282	▲ 3
25	Helen	1,267	▲ 3
26	Rose	1,261	▼ 1
27	Gertrude	1,249	▲ 2
28	Cora	1,231	▼ 5
29	Pearl	1,204	▼ 3
30	Maude	1,189	▼ 6
31	Edith	1,184	–
32	Eva	1,155	▲ 6
33	Hattie	1,139	▲ 3
34	Jennie	1,100	▼ 1
35	Myrtle	1,094	▼ 1
36	Julia	1,061	▼ 4
37	Louise	1,061	▲ 2
38	Frances	1,059	▲ 8
39	Mattie	1,044	▼ 4
40	Lula	1,040	▲ 1
41	Jessie	1,003	▼ 1
42	Lillie	995	▼ 5
43	Lena	992	▲ 1
44	Marie	988	▼ 2
45	Catherine	916	–
46	Ada	915	▼ 3
47	Josephine	844	▲ 1
48	Fannie	837	▼ 1
49	Dora	827	–
50	Lucy	817	▲ 2
51	Blanche	787	▲ 2
52	Agnes	779	▲ 2
53	Maggie	756	▼ 2
54	Katherine	744	▼ 4
55	Mamie	712	▲ 7
56	Nora	708	–
57	Stella	702	–
58	Elsie	698	▼ 3
59	Rosa	673	▼ 1
60	Effie	672	▼ 1
61	Mae	641	▲ 2
62	Alma	603	▲ 6
63	Daisy	602	▼ 3
64	May	602	▼ 3
65	Nettie	591	▲ 1
66	Ruth	581	▲ 4
67	Della	565	▲ 4
68	Sadie	562	▲ 1
69	Susie	559	▲ 3
70	Ellen	551	▼ 6
71	Lizzie	512	▼ 6
72	Nancy	492	▼ 5
73	Sallie	490	–
74	Maud	478	▲ 1
75	Lottie	450	▲ 5
76	Flora	443	▼ 2
77	Viola	440	▲ 11
78	Irene	437	▲ 4
79	Etta	433	▲ 4
80	Katie	431	▲ 1
81	Hazel	429	▲ 24
82	Mollie	421	▼ 3
83	Addie	417	▼ 7
84	Olive	404	▲ 2
85	Esther	396	▲ 7
86	Georgia	395	▼ 2
87	Lydia	392	▼ 10
88	Willie	388	▲ 7
89	Kathryn	383	▲ 4
90	Lulu	376	▼ 5
91	Amanda	370	▼ 1
92	Caroline	370	▼ 14
93	Emily	369	▼ 6
94	Charlotte	368	–
95	Rebecca	355	▲ 4
96	Virginia	353	▲ 7
97	Nannie	347	▲ 7
98	Beulah	345	▼ 2
99	Harriet	341	▼ 10
100	Kate	335	▼ 3

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1886. Counts are Social Security card applications for US births; SSA leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year. Updated 2026-10-05. How these numbers are made.