Most popular baby names of 1898

In 1898, the most popular names for US babies were John for boys (8,159 babies, 6.7% of boys) and Mary for girls (14,406 babies, 5.6% 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 1,289 different boy names and 1,975 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1898
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	John	8,159	–
2	William	7,400	–
3	James	5,321	–
4	George	4,853	–
5	Charles	3,557	–
6	Joseph	3,171	–
7	Robert	2,932	▲ 1
8	Frank	2,925	▼ 1
9	Edward	2,337	–
10	Thomas	2,161	▲ 1
11	Henry	2,145	▼ 1
12	Harry	2,129	▲ 1
13	Walter	2,002	▼ 1
14	Arthur	1,619	–
15	Fred	1,447	▲ 1
16	Albert	1,417	▼ 1
17	Clarence	1,326	–
18	Willie	1,134	–
19	Dewey	1,115	▲ 92
20	Roy	1,049	▼ 1
21	Paul	991	▼ 1
22	Harold	963	▼ 1
23	Raymond	929	▼ 1
24	Carl	919	▲ 1
25	Earl	883	▼ 1
26	Richard	871	▲ 5
27	Louis	861	▼ 4
28	Ernest	839	▼ 1
29	Joe	827	▼ 3
30	David	815	▼ 1
31	Ralph	803	▲ 1
32	Samuel	749	▼ 4
33	Charlie	728	▼ 3
34	Herbert	716	▲ 1
35	Howard	706	▼ 2
36	Alfred	645	▲ 4
37	Jack	633	▲ 5
38	Andrew	611	▼ 2
39	Leo	588	▲ 7
40	Elmer	583	▼ 6
41	Oscar	546	▼ 4
42	Sam	543	▲ 3
43	Francis	541	–
44	Lawrence	533	▼ 3
45	Daniel	523	▼ 6
46	Lee	498	▲ 1
47	Jesse	476	▼ 9
48	Will	475	▼ 4
49	Eugene	473	–
50	Herman	467	–
51	Floyd	434	▼ 3
52	Michael	434	▲ 5
53	Leonard	421	▲ 8
54	Peter	409	▼ 3
55	Benjamin	405	▼ 1
56	Ray	394	▼ 4
57	Edwin	391	▼ 4
58	Clyde	383	–
59	Claude	371	–
60	Frederick	368	▼ 4
61	Russell	359	▲ 3
62	Lewis	352	▼ 7
63	Martin	339	▼ 3
64	Tom	337	▼ 1
65	Anthony	325	▲ 11
66	Chester	321	▲ 1
67	Clifford	317	▲ 1
68	Leroy	315	▼ 2
69	Ben	310	▼ 4
70	Lester	298	▼ 8
71	Stanley	295	▲ 6
72	Edgar	285	▼ 3
73	Bernard	284	▲ 5
74	Harvey	284	▼ 2
75	Theodore	281	▲ 10
76	Luther	275	▼ 5
77	Jim	269	▼ 2
78	Jessie	267	▲ 1
79	Lloyd	265	▼ 5
80	Otto	259	–
81	Eddie	256	▼ 8
82	Jacob	256	▲ 6
83	Leon	251	▼ 2
84	Hugh	250	▲ 2
85	Homer	246	▼ 15
86	Philip	244	▲ 3
87	Cecil	243	▼ 3
88	Donald	238	▲ 4
89	Ed	228	▲ 1
90	Leslie	228	▼ 7
91	Milton	225	▲ 15
92	Archie	222	▲ 3
93	Patrick	219	▼ 6
94	Guy	215	▼ 1
95	Everett	212	▲ 5
96	Norman	207	▼ 5
97	Victor	205	▼ 1
98	Ira	195	▲ 1
99	Stephen	195	▼ 5
100	Kenneth	191	▲ 5

Top 100 girl names, 1898
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Mary	14,406	–
2	Anna	5,773	–
3	Helen	5,230	–
4	Margaret	4,696	–
5	Ruth	4,249	–
6	Florence	3,790	▲ 1
7	Elizabeth	3,659	▼ 1
8	Ethel	3,531	–
9	Marie	3,435	–
10	Lillian	3,061	▲ 1
11	Alice	2,846	▲ 5
12	Edna	2,813	–
13	Emma	2,788	▼ 3
14	Clara	2,731	▲ 1
15	Grace	2,726	▼ 1
16	Bessie	2,647	▲ 1
17	Bertha	2,642	▼ 4
18	Annie	2,470	▲ 2
19	Hazel	2,439	▼ 1
20	Rose	2,436	▼ 1
21	Minnie	2,409	–
22	Frances	2,379	▲ 5
23	Mabel	2,331	▼ 1
24	Gertrude	2,302	▼ 1
25	Martha	2,184	▲ 1
26	Pearl	2,158	▼ 1
27	Gladys	2,136	▲ 5
28	Mildred	2,101	▲ 5
29	Ida	2,090	▼ 5
30	Myrtle	2,090	▼ 1
31	Esther	2,047	▼ 3
32	Edith	1,981	▼ 2
33	Elsie	1,919	▼ 2
34	Irene	1,902	▲ 4
35	Eva	1,823	–
36	Nellie	1,810	▲ 1
37	Sarah	1,800	▼ 3
38	Laura	1,768	▲ 1
39	Ella	1,715	▼ 3
40	Agnes	1,708	–
41	Catherine	1,705	▲ 1
42	Louise	1,693	▼ 1
43	Dorothy	1,671	–
44	Lillie	1,522	–
45	Julia	1,462	–
46	Josephine	1,425	▲ 1
47	Carrie	1,371	▼ 1
48	Hattie	1,328	–
49	Lena	1,320	▲ 1
50	Mattie	1,314	▲ 3
51	Cora	1,304	▼ 2
52	Alma	1,299	▼ 1
53	Viola	1,272	▲ 5
54	Blanche	1,269	▲ 1
55	Jessie	1,244	▼ 3
56	Mae	1,239	▼ 2
57	Jennie	1,194	▼ 1
58	Ruby	1,191	▼ 1
59	Lucy	1,144	▲ 2
60	Beatrice	1,122	▲ 8
61	Fannie	1,085	▲ 6
62	Marion	1,085	▼ 2
63	Mamie	1,084	▼ 4
64	Lula	1,069	▼ 1
65	Stella	1,062	▼ 1
66	Ada	1,022	–
67	Maude	1,009	▼ 5
68	Dora	929	▲ 1
69	Katherine	914	▼ 4
70	Pauline	900	▲ 2
71	Willie	878	▼ 1
72	Maggie	876	▲ 3
73	Vera	876	–
74	Nora	868	▼ 3
75	Rosa	841	▼ 1
76	Evelyn	836	▲ 4
77	Sadie	808	▼ 1
78	Virginia	801	▲ 6
79	Marguerite	800	▼ 1
80	Lucille	795	▲ 2
81	Ellen	786	▼ 4
82	Beulah	783	▼ 1
83	Effie	714	▼ 4
84	Daisy	712	▲ 2
85	Susie	702	–
86	May	696	▲ 5
87	Nettie	678	▲ 3
88	Lydia	677	▼ 5
89	Kathryn	671	▲ 4
90	Leona	665	▼ 1
91	Della	656	▼ 4
92	Georgia	654	▲ 9
93	Olive	644	▼ 1
94	Emily	628	▼ 6
95	Eleanor	620	–
96	Bernice	619	▲ 7
97	Hilda	610	▼ 3
98	Flora	607	▲ 8
99	Thelma	605	▲ 18
100	Sallie	598	▼ 2

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1898. 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.