Most popular baby names of 1899

In 1899, the most popular names for US babies were John for boys (6,990 babies, 6.6% of boys) and Mary for girls (13,172 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 1,200 different boy names and 1,842 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1899
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	John	6,990	–
2	William	6,086	–
3	James	4,597	–
4	George	4,018	–
5	Charles	3,147	–
6	Joseph	2,679	–
7	Robert	2,609	–
8	Frank	2,550	–
9	Edward	1,901	–
10	Henry	1,831	▲ 1
11	Thomas	1,811	▼ 1
12	Walter	1,750	▲ 1
13	Harry	1,732	▼ 1
14	Arthur	1,357	–
15	Albert	1,210	▲ 1
16	Fred	1,182	▼ 1
17	Clarence	1,139	–
18	Willie	1,088	–
19	Harold	914	▲ 3
20	Roy	912	–
21	Paul	885	–
22	Raymond	869	▲ 1
23	Earl	821	▲ 2
24	Joe	780	▲ 5
25	Carl	774	▼ 1
26	Louis	770	▲ 1
27	Ernest	744	▲ 1
28	Richard	744	▼ 2
29	Ralph	742	▲ 2
30	Samuel	704	▲ 2
31	Charlie	678	▲ 2
32	David	646	▼ 2
33	Herbert	590	▲ 1
34	Howard	589	▲ 1
35	Jack	582	▲ 2
36	Andrew	578	▲ 2
37	Elmer	514	▲ 3
38	Francis	501	▲ 5
39	Dewey	499	▼ 20
40	Lawrence	497	▲ 4
41	Alfred	496	▼ 5
42	Daniel	485	▲ 3
43	Leo	482	▼ 4
44	Sam	469	▼ 2
45	Eugene	449	▲ 4
46	Oscar	447	▼ 5
47	Jesse	423	–
48	Will	414	–
49	Herman	413	▲ 1
50	Lee	388	▼ 4
51	Michael	375	▲ 1
52	Floyd	356	▼ 1
53	Peter	354	▲ 1
54	Lewis	352	▲ 8
55	Frederick	350	▲ 5
56	Russell	338	▲ 5
57	Benjamin	335	▼ 2
58	Clyde	330	–
59	Edwin	329	▼ 2
60	Leonard	321	▼ 7
61	Ray	315	▼ 5
62	Clifford	297	▲ 5
63	Claude	293	▼ 4
64	Anthony	291	▲ 1
65	Lester	290	▲ 5
66	Chester	288	–
67	Tom	288	▼ 3
68	Lloyd	287	▲ 11
69	Leroy	269	▼ 1
70	Jessie	261	▲ 8
71	Jim	261	▲ 6
72	Martin	260	▼ 9
73	Ben	259	▼ 4
74	Donald	258	▲ 14
75	Eddie	258	▲ 6
76	Stanley	258	▼ 5
77	Cecil	256	▲ 10
78	Theodore	252	▼ 3
79	Harvey	251	▼ 5
80	Edgar	249	▼ 8
81	Luther	248	▼ 5
82	Homer	239	▲ 3
83	Norman	223	▲ 13
84	Philip	223	▲ 2
85	Bernard	222	▼ 12
86	Patrick	221	▲ 7
87	Kenneth	214	▲ 13
88	Hugh	209	▼ 4
89	Milton	207	▲ 2
90	Guy	200	▲ 4
91	Allen	191	▲ 12
92	Jacob	189	▼ 10
93	Leon	188	▼ 10
94	Otis	185	▲ 13
95	Everett	181	–
96	Leslie	181	▼ 6
97	Alexander	178	▲ 9
98	Stephen	178	▲ 1
99	Archie	177	▼ 7
100	Victor	175	▼ 3

Top 100 girl names, 1899
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Mary	13,172	–
2	Anna	5,115	–
3	Helen	5,048	–
4	Margaret	4,249	–
5	Ruth	3,912	–
6	Florence	3,314	–
7	Elizabeth	3,287	–
8	Marie	3,156	▲ 1
9	Ethel	2,999	▼ 1
10	Lillian	2,703	–
11	Edna	2,534	▲ 1
12	Alice	2,523	▼ 1
13	Emma	2,445	–
14	Clara	2,441	–
15	Grace	2,353	–
16	Bertha	2,294	▲ 1
17	Mildred	2,291	▲ 11
18	Annie	2,289	–
19	Bessie	2,280	▼ 3
20	Gladys	2,228	▲ 7
21	Rose	2,197	▼ 1
22	Mabel	2,127	▲ 1
23	Gertrude	2,110	▲ 1
24	Frances	2,058	▼ 2
25	Minnie	2,036	▼ 4
26	Hazel	2,033	▼ 7
27	Pearl	1,999	▼ 1
28	Martha	1,907	▼ 3
29	Esther	1,823	▲ 2
30	Myrtle	1,821	–
31	Ida	1,804	▼ 2
32	Edith	1,794	–
33	Elsie	1,706	–
34	Irene	1,703	–
35	Dorothy	1,687	▲ 8
36	Catherine	1,628	▲ 5
37	Agnes	1,611	▲ 3
38	Sarah	1,587	▼ 1
39	Eva	1,582	▼ 4
40	Louise	1,536	▲ 2
41	Nellie	1,510	▼ 5
42	Ella	1,502	▼ 3
43	Laura	1,472	▼ 5
44	Josephine	1,388	▲ 2
45	Lillie	1,350	▼ 1
46	Carrie	1,346	▲ 1
47	Julia	1,297	▼ 2
48	Mattie	1,171	▲ 2
49	Lena	1,159	–
50	Viola	1,156	▲ 3
51	Alma	1,146	▲ 1
52	Ruby	1,103	▲ 6
53	Hattie	1,087	▼ 5
54	Jessie	1,081	▲ 1
55	Blanche	1,063	▼ 1
56	Beatrice	1,061	▲ 4
57	Jennie	1,061	–
58	Cora	1,056	▼ 7
59	Mae	1,035	▼ 3
60	Lucy	1,018	▼ 1
61	Ada	984	▲ 5
62	Stella	975	▲ 3
63	Marion	973	▼ 1
64	Mamie	966	▼ 1
65	Katherine	942	▲ 4
66	Maude	908	▲ 1
67	Lula	894	▼ 3
68	Fannie	886	▼ 7
69	Vera	864	▲ 4
70	Maggie	814	▲ 2
71	Lucille	812	▲ 9
72	Pauline	811	▼ 2
73	Willie	806	▼ 2
74	Evelyn	802	▲ 2
75	Virginia	776	▲ 3
76	Beulah	770	▲ 6
77	Rosa	765	▼ 2
78	Thelma	736	▲ 21
79	Dora	718	▼ 11
80	Nora	709	▼ 6
81	Ellen	708	–
82	Sadie	705	▼ 5
83	Marguerite	693	▼ 4
84	Leona	665	▲ 6
85	Daisy	660	▼ 1
86	Susie	622	▼ 1
87	Hilda	621	▲ 10
88	Kathryn	621	▲ 1
89	Nettie	611	▼ 2
90	Effie	597	▼ 7
91	Della	595	–
92	Ann	586	▲ 9
93	Lottie	584	▲ 9
94	Eleanor	575	▲ 1
95	May	571	▼ 9
96	Emily	569	▼ 2
97	Lydia	566	▼ 9
98	Olive	565	▼ 5
99	Georgia	553	▼ 7
100	Sallie	544	–

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1899. 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.