Most popular baby names of 1897
In 1897, the most popular names for US babies were John for boys (7,550 babies, 6.7% of boys) and Mary for girls (13,413 babies, 5.7% of girls). The rest of the top five were William, James, George and Charles for boys and Anna, Helen, Margaret and Ruth for girls. SSA recorded 1,229 different boy names and 1,799 different girl names that year.
| Rank | Name | Babies | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John | 7,550 | – |
| 2 | William | 7,198 | – |
| 3 | James | 5,113 | – |
| 4 | George | 4,078 | – |
| 5 | Charles | 3,341 | – |
| 6 | Joseph | 2,827 | – |
| 7 | Frank | 2,726 | – |
| 8 | Robert | 2,701 | – |
| 9 | Edward | 2,121 | – |
| 10 | Henry | 1,994 | – |
| 11 | Thomas | 1,980 | ▲ 1 |
| 12 | Walter | 1,895 | ▲ 1 |
| 13 | Harry | 1,879 | ▼ 2 |
| 14 | Arthur | 1,647 | – |
| 15 | Albert | 1,377 | – |
| 16 | Fred | 1,301 | – |
| 17 | Clarence | 1,201 | – |
| 18 | Willie | 1,151 | – |
| 19 | Roy | 999 | – |
| 20 | Paul | 923 | – |
| 21 | Harold | 860 | ▲ 2 |
| 22 | Raymond | 837 | ▲ 2 |
| 23 | Louis | 831 | ▼ 1 |
| 24 | Earl | 829 | ▼ 3 |
| 25 | Carl | 828 | – |
| 26 | Joe | 798 | ▲ 1 |
| 27 | Ernest | 785 | ▲ 2 |
| 28 | Samuel | 759 | ▲ 3 |
| 29 | David | 730 | ▼ 1 |
| 30 | Charlie | 714 | ▲ 2 |
| 31 | Richard | 702 | ▼ 5 |
| 32 | Ralph | 697 | ▼ 2 |
| 33 | Howard | 634 | – |
| 34 | Elmer | 587 | ▲ 2 |
| 35 | Herbert | 565 | ▼ 1 |
| 36 | Andrew | 555 | ▲ 1 |
| 37 | Oscar | 543 | ▲ 4 |
| 38 | Jesse | 529 | ▼ 3 |
| 39 | Daniel | 520 | ▼ 1 |
| 40 | Alfred | 513 | ▲ 2 |
| 41 | Lawrence | 505 | ▲ 5 |
| 42 | Jack | 497 | ▼ 2 |
| 43 | Francis | 496 | ▼ 4 |
| 44 | Will | 491 | – |
| 45 | Sam | 478 | ▼ 2 |
| 46 | Leo | 462 | ▲ 1 |
| 47 | Lee | 453 | ▲ 1 |
| 48 | Floyd | 451 | ▲ 7 |
| 49 | Eugene | 447 | ▼ 4 |
| 50 | Herman | 412 | ▼ 1 |
| 51 | Peter | 397 | ▲ 1 |
| 52 | Ray | 397 | ▼ 2 |
| 53 | Edwin | 380 | ▲ 6 |
| 54 | Benjamin | 378 | ▼ 3 |
| 55 | Lewis | 378 | ▲ 1 |
| 56 | Frederick | 369 | ▲ 1 |
| 57 | Michael | 368 | ▼ 4 |
| 58 | Clyde | 359 | – |
| 59 | Claude | 345 | ▼ 5 |
| 60 | Martin | 312 | ▲ 1 |
| 61 | Leonard | 310 | ▼ 1 |
| 62 | Lester | 310 | ▲ 3 |
| 63 | Tom | 298 | ▼ 1 |
| 64 | Russell | 295 | – |
| 65 | Ben | 291 | ▲ 4 |
| 66 | Leroy | 291 | ▲ 6 |
| 67 | Chester | 290 | ▼ 4 |
| 68 | Clifford | 285 | ▼ 2 |
| 69 | Edgar | 278 | ▼ 1 |
| 70 | Homer | 278 | ▲ 9 |
| 71 | Luther | 271 | ▲ 3 |
| 72 | Harvey | 268 | ▼ 2 |
| 73 | Eddie | 263 | ▲ 3 |
| 74 | Lloyd | 258 | ▼ 7 |
| 75 | Jim | 252 | ▼ 4 |
| 76 | Anthony | 249 | ▼ 3 |
| 77 | Stanley | 240 | ▲ 1 |
| 78 | Bernard | 234 | ▲ 4 |
| 79 | Jessie | 234 | ▲ 10 |
| 80 | Otto | 234 | – |
| 81 | Leon | 229 | ▲ 5 |
| 82 | Allen | 226 | ▲ 9 |
| 83 | Leslie | 222 | ▲ 2 |
| 84 | Cecil | 216 | ▲ 13 |
| 85 | Theodore | 215 | ▼ 1 |
| 86 | Hugh | 213 | ▼ 11 |
| 87 | Patrick | 210 | ▲ 6 |
| 88 | Jacob | 204 | ▼ 5 |
| 89 | Philip | 200 | ▲ 3 |
| 90 | Ed | 198 | ▼ 9 |
| 91 | Norman | 197 | ▲ 13 |
| 92 | Donald | 195 | ▲ 2 |
| 93 | Guy | 195 | ▼ 16 |
| 94 | Stephen | 194 | ▲ 19 |
| 95 | Archie | 190 | ▼ 7 |
| 96 | Victor | 190 | – |
| 97 | Alvin | 186 | ▲ 5 |
| 98 | Percy | 183 | ▲ 19 |
| 99 | Ira | 180 | ▲ 2 |
| 100 | Everett | 179 | ▼ 10 |
| Rank | Name | Babies | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mary | 13,413 | – |
| 2 | Anna | 5,429 | – |
| 3 | Helen | 4,519 | – |
| 4 | Margaret | 4,146 | – |
| 5 | Ruth | 3,878 | – |
| 6 | Elizabeth | 3,442 | ▲ 1 |
| 7 | Florence | 3,369 | ▲ 1 |
| 8 | Ethel | 3,182 | ▼ 2 |
| 9 | Marie | 3,078 | – |
| 10 | Emma | 2,698 | – |
| 11 | Lillian | 2,683 | – |
| 12 | Edna | 2,567 | ▲ 1 |
| 13 | Bertha | 2,502 | ▲ 2 |
| 14 | Grace | 2,458 | ▲ 3 |
| 15 | Clara | 2,454 | ▼ 1 |
| 16 | Alice | 2,431 | ▼ 4 |
| 17 | Bessie | 2,407 | ▲ 1 |
| 18 | Hazel | 2,339 | ▲ 4 |
| 19 | Rose | 2,316 | ▲ 1 |
| 20 | Annie | 2,307 | ▼ 1 |
| 21 | Minnie | 2,284 | ▼ 5 |
| 22 | Mabel | 2,222 | ▼ 1 |
| 23 | Gertrude | 2,135 | – |
| 24 | Ida | 2,108 | – |
| 25 | Pearl | 2,076 | – |
| 26 | Martha | 1,990 | – |
| 27 | Frances | 1,975 | ▲ 1 |
| 28 | Esther | 1,911 | ▼ 1 |
| 29 | Myrtle | 1,833 | ▲ 1 |
| 30 | Edith | 1,823 | ▼ 1 |
| 31 | Elsie | 1,763 | – |
| 32 | Gladys | 1,737 | ▲ 1 |
| 33 | Mildred | 1,723 | ▲ 6 |
| 34 | Sarah | 1,713 | ▲ 1 |
| 35 | Eva | 1,709 | ▼ 3 |
| 36 | Ella | 1,708 | – |
| 37 | Nellie | 1,693 | ▼ 3 |
| 38 | Irene | 1,587 | ▲ 3 |
| 39 | Laura | 1,585 | ▼ 2 |
| 40 | Agnes | 1,579 | ▼ 2 |
| 41 | Louise | 1,563 | ▲ 1 |
| 42 | Catherine | 1,511 | ▼ 2 |
| 43 | Dorothy | 1,472 | ▲ 3 |
| 44 | Lillie | 1,401 | ▼ 1 |
| 45 | Julia | 1,380 | ▼ 1 |
| 46 | Carrie | 1,365 | ▼ 1 |
| 47 | Josephine | 1,267 | ▲ 3 |
| 48 | Hattie | 1,251 | ▼ 1 |
| 49 | Cora | 1,246 | ▲ 3 |
| 50 | Lena | 1,239 | ▼ 2 |
| 51 | Alma | 1,213 | – |
| 52 | Jessie | 1,191 | ▲ 5 |
| 53 | Mattie | 1,181 | ▼ 4 |
| 54 | Mae | 1,144 | ▲ 1 |
| 55 | Blanche | 1,092 | ▼ 1 |
| 56 | Jennie | 1,074 | ▼ 3 |
| 57 | Ruby | 1,025 | ▲ 9 |
| 58 | Viola | 1,017 | ▲ 4 |
| 59 | Mamie | 1,006 | ▼ 1 |
| 60 | Marion | 994 | ▲ 7 |
| 61 | Lucy | 984 | ▼ 2 |
| 62 | Maude | 984 | ▼ 6 |
| 63 | Lula | 971 | ▲ 1 |
| 64 | Stella | 966 | ▼ 4 |
| 65 | Katherine | 962 | ▼ 4 |
| 66 | Ada | 956 | ▼ 3 |
| 67 | Fannie | 956 | ▼ 2 |
| 68 | Beatrice | 942 | ▲ 2 |
| 69 | Dora | 862 | ▼ 1 |
| 70 | Willie | 818 | ▲ 6 |
| 71 | Nora | 812 | – |
| 72 | Pauline | 777 | ▲ 3 |
| 73 | Vera | 776 | ▲ 8 |
| 74 | Rosa | 770 | – |
| 75 | Maggie | 760 | ▼ 6 |
| 76 | Sadie | 757 | ▼ 4 |
| 77 | Ellen | 733 | ▼ 4 |
| 78 | Marguerite | 728 | – |
| 79 | Effie | 698 | ▲ 1 |
| 80 | Evelyn | 690 | ▲ 4 |
| 81 | Beulah | 688 | ▼ 4 |
| 82 | Lucille | 648 | ▲ 4 |
| 83 | Lydia | 642 | ▲ 8 |
| 84 | Virginia | 638 | ▲ 5 |
| 85 | Susie | 626 | ▼ 6 |
| 86 | Daisy | 624 | ▼ 3 |
| 87 | Della | 624 | ▼ 2 |
| 88 | Emily | 619 | ▲ 8 |
| 89 | Leona | 619 | ▲ 5 |
| 90 | Nettie | 614 | ▼ 3 |
| 91 | May | 595 | ▼ 9 |
| 92 | Olive | 583 | ▼ 2 |
| 93 | Kathryn | 570 | ▼ 5 |
| 94 | Hilda | 561 | ▲ 1 |
| 95 | Eleanor | 559 | ▲ 7 |
| 96 | Nancy | 553 | ▲ 2 |
| 97 | Ann | 545 | ▲ 8 |
| 98 | Sallie | 545 | ▲ 3 |
| 99 | Lizzie | 543 | ▲ 1 |
| 100 | Theresa | 533 | ▲ 8 |
Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1897. 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.