Most popular baby names of 1888

In 1888, the most popular names for US babies were John for boys (9,247 babies, 7.7% of boys) and Mary for girls (11,754 babies, 6.6% of girls). The rest of the top five were William, James, George and Charles for boys and Anna, Elizabeth, Emma and Margaret for girls. SSA recorded 1,177 different boy names and 1,474 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1888
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	John	9,247	–
2	William	8,705	–
3	James	5,562	–
4	George	4,912	–
5	Charles	4,591	–
6	Frank	3,459	–
7	Joseph	2,993	–
8	Robert	2,814	▲ 3
9	Harry	2,759	▲ 3
10	Henry	2,596	▼ 2
11	Edward	2,470	▼ 1
12	Thomas	2,449	▼ 3
13	Walter	2,040	–
14	Arthur	1,710	–
15	Fred	1,665	–
16	Albert	1,569	–
17	Clarence	1,022	–
18	Samuel	931	–
19	Louis	884	–
20	Roy	856	–
21	David	801	▲ 1
22	Charlie	796	▲ 2
23	Joe	789	▼ 2
24	Willie	786	▲ 3
25	Benjamin	781	▲ 9
26	Richard	772	▼ 1
27	Ernest	766	▼ 4
28	Will	707	▲ 2
29	Carl	675	▼ 1
30	Earl	675	▲ 2
31	Oscar	647	▼ 2
32	Jesse	637	▼ 6
33	Andrew	615	–
34	Sam	607	▲ 5
35	Daniel	566	▼ 4
36	Ralph	547	▲ 2
37	Alfred	536	▼ 2
38	Paul	529	▲ 2
39	Elmer	527	▼ 3
40	Howard	513	▲ 2
41	Peter	498	▲ 2
42	Frederick	496	▼ 5
43	Herbert	485	▼ 2
44	Grover	474	▲ 15
45	Raymond	469	▲ 2
46	Michael	466	▲ 2
47	Ben	463	▲ 11
48	Lee	430	▼ 4
49	Tom	416	▲ 3
50	Lewis	412	▼ 1
51	Herman	403	▼ 6
52	Harrison	400	▲ 78
53	Eugene	398	–
54	Martin	378	▼ 3
55	Claude	374	▼ 9
56	Jim	362	▼ 6
57	Francis	353	▼ 3
58	Jacob	353	▼ 2
59	Leo	353	▲ 15
60	Clyde	344	▼ 5
61	Lawrence	343	▼ 1
62	Harvey	334	▲ 3
63	Ray	331	▲ 3
64	Jack	329	▲ 4
65	Edgar	321	▼ 1
66	Otto	312	▲ 1
67	Floyd	302	▲ 6
68	Ed	301	▼ 6
69	Edwin	298	▼ 12
70	Harold	298	▼ 9
71	Guy	297	–
72	Chester	288	▲ 6
73	Bert	282	▼ 1
74	Luther	275	▼ 11
75	Allen	260	▲ 6
76	Homer	256	▼ 6
77	Charley	254	▼ 2
78	Jessie	254	▲ 8
79	Hugh	253	▼ 10
80	Theodore	249	▲ 2
81	Patrick	245	▼ 5
82	Alexander	237	▲ 5
83	Leonard	225	▼ 4
84	Ira	222	▼ 7
85	Isaac	221	▼ 1
86	August	213	▼ 3
87	Bernard	207	▲ 10
88	Oliver	206	▼ 8
89	Julius	197	▲ 4
90	Leon	196	▲ 9
91	Philip	196	▲ 4
92	Clifford	194	▼ 1
93	Anthony	193	▲ 5
94	Eddie	193	▲ 12
95	Leroy	192	▼ 7
96	Archie	191	▼ 11
97	Lester	189	▼ 8
98	Stephen	187	▼ 6
99	Leslie	175	▼ 9
100	Lloyd	175	▲ 8

Top 100 girl names, 1888
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Mary	11,754	–
2	Anna	4,982	–
3	Elizabeth	3,224	–
4	Emma	3,087	–
5	Margaret	2,904	–
6	Minnie	2,654	–
7	Bertha	2,450	–
8	Florence	2,444	▲ 1
9	Ethel	2,374	▲ 2
10	Bessie	2,278	▲ 3
11	Clara	2,230	▼ 3
12	Ida	2,229	▼ 2
13	Alice	2,202	▲ 1
14	Annie	2,188	▼ 2
15	Grace	2,090	–
16	Helen	1,847	▲ 5
17	Mabel	1,830	▲ 1
18	Ella	1,774	▼ 2
19	Martha	1,769	▼ 2
20	Sarah	1,755	–
21	Nellie	1,736	▼ 2
22	Edna	1,687	▲ 2
23	Lillian	1,656	▲ 3
24	Carrie	1,647	▼ 1
25	Laura	1,624	▼ 3
26	Pearl	1,591	▼ 1
27	Rose	1,590	▲ 3
28	Gertrude	1,468	–
29	Edith	1,453	–
30	Frances	1,452	▲ 4
31	Cora	1,433	▼ 4
32	Maude	1,396	▼ 1
33	Louise	1,334	▲ 2
34	Eva	1,329	▼ 1
35	Myrtle	1,310	▲ 1
36	Hattie	1,298	▼ 4
37	Jennie	1,298	▲ 1
38	Julia	1,292	▲ 1
39	Mattie	1,268	▲ 1
40	Marie	1,258	▲ 3
41	Lillie	1,249	▼ 4
42	Catherine	1,212	▲ 2
43	Jessie	1,200	▼ 2
44	Lula	1,173	▲ 3
45	Lena	1,162	▼ 3
46	Ada	1,116	▼ 1
47	Elsie	1,112	▲ 2
48	Agnes	1,046	▼ 2
49	Josephine	1,001	▲ 1
50	Fannie	991	▲ 2
51	Lucy	964	–
52	Blanche	942	▲ 2
53	Mamie	917	▲ 4
54	Dora	898	▼ 6
55	Hazel	898	▲ 17
56	Katherine	893	▼ 3
57	Maggie	882	▼ 2
58	Alma	853	▲ 5
59	Ruth	850	▲ 3
60	Mae	836	▼ 2
61	Nora	832	▼ 5
62	Rosa	832	▼ 2
63	May	782	▼ 2
64	Stella	775	▼ 5
65	Effie	744	▼ 1
66	Irene	722	▲ 7
67	Nettie	692	▼ 2
68	Ellen	691	▼ 2
69	Sadie	691	▲ 1
70	Sallie	633	▼ 1
71	Della	621	▲ 3
72	Susie	621	▲ 3
73	Daisy	612	▼ 6
74	Viola	596	▲ 6
75	Lizzie	593	▼ 7
76	Nancy	582	▼ 5
77	Esther	572	▲ 2
78	Flora	541	▲ 4
79	Willie	522	▲ 9
80	Katie	516	▼ 3
81	Lottie	511	–
82	Etta	500	▼ 4
83	Mildred	499	▲ 6
84	Georgia	477	▲ 8
85	Lydia	472	▼ 9
86	Maud	469	▼ 3
87	Olive	465	▼ 2
88	Charlotte	464	▲ 3
89	Caroline	458	▼ 5
90	Emily	457	▲ 8
91	Addie	455	▼ 5
92	Jane	446	▲ 15
93	Kathryn	446	▼ 6
94	Ruby	445	▲ 11
95	Beulah	426	▼ 5
96	Ollie	411	▲ 1
97	Amanda	404	▼ 1
98	Pauline	393	▲ 6
99	Harriet	389	▼ 5
100	Virginia	385	▲ 1

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1888. 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.