Most popular baby names of 1908

In 1908, the most popular names for US babies were John for boys (9,343 babies, 6.1% of boys) and Mary for girls (18,665 babies, 5.6% of girls). The rest of the top five were William, James, George and Robert for boys and Helen, Margaret, Ruth and Anna for girls. SSA recorded 1,584 different boy names and 2,434 different girl names that year.

Top 100 boy names, 1908
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	John	9,343	–
2	William	7,529	–
3	James	7,012	–
4	George	4,584	–
5	Robert	4,219	–
6	Joseph	4,162	▲ 1
7	Charles	3,929	▼ 1
8	Frank	3,146	–
9	Edward	2,707	–
10	Thomas	2,301	▲ 1
11	Henry	2,283	▼ 1
12	Walter	2,192	–
13	Willie	1,964	–
14	Harry	1,934	–
15	Albert	1,642	–
16	Arthur	1,601	–
17	Harold	1,542	–
18	Paul	1,478	▲ 2
19	Clarence	1,428	▼ 1
20	Fred	1,381	▼ 1
21	Raymond	1,381	–
22	Louis	1,317	▲ 3
23	Richard	1,244	▼ 1
24	Joe	1,209	▼ 1
25	Ralph	1,138	▲ 4
26	Roy	1,097	▼ 2
27	Jack	1,086	▼ 1
28	Howard	1,078	▲ 5
29	Carl	1,074	▼ 2
30	David	1,015	▲ 1
31	Ernest	1,000	▼ 1
32	Earl	999	▼ 4
33	Samuel	960	▼ 1
34	Francis	853	▲ 3
35	Lawrence	815	▼ 1
36	Herbert	759	▲ 3
37	Charlie	740	▼ 2
38	Alfred	739	▼ 2
39	Andrew	722	▲ 1
40	Kenneth	692	▲ 7
41	Anthony	690	▲ 5
42	Elmer	689	▲ 3
43	Eugene	689	▼ 2
44	Michael	688	▲ 4
45	Donald	664	▼ 1
46	Sam	644	▼ 3
47	Theodore	643	▼ 9
48	Leonard	614	▲ 3
49	Leo	584	▼ 7
50	Herman	562	▼ 1
51	Lee	553	▲ 3
52	Stanley	547	▲ 3
53	Peter	542	▲ 8
54	Daniel	530	▼ 2
55	Floyd	529	▼ 2
56	Leroy	523	▼ 6
57	Russell	523	–
58	Clifford	515	▲ 7
59	Clyde	511	▼ 3
60	Lester	509	▼ 2
61	Lewis	489	▲ 5
62	Jesse	482	▲ 1
63	Benjamin	480	▲ 1
64	Edwin	477	▼ 2
65	Oscar	476	▼ 6
66	Chester	461	▲ 1
67	Ray	446	▼ 7
68	Frederick	438	–
69	Claude	428	▲ 5
70	Bernard	414	▲ 3
71	Eddie	413	▼ 1
72	Cecil	397	▼ 3
73	Lloyd	394	▼ 1
74	Norman	374	▲ 1
75	Melvin	366	▲ 3
76	Edgar	360	▲ 5
77	Jessie	355	▼ 6
78	Ben	353	▲ 4
79	Milton	346	▲ 10
80	Homer	340	▲ 4
81	Tom	340	▲ 2
82	Harvey	339	▼ 5
83	Martin	331	▼ 4
84	Leon	327	▼ 4
85	Johnnie	321	▲ 1
86	Philip	319	▼ 10
87	Marvin	311	–
88	Victor	308	▲ 12
89	Alvin	307	▲ 10
90	Everett	294	▼ 2
91	Luther	292	–
92	Allen	287	▼ 7
93	Vernon	285	▲ 16
94	Stephen	280	▲ 1
95	Leslie	279	▼ 1
96	Will	274	▲ 1
97	Gerald	270	▲ 5
98	Morris	269	▼ 2
99	Julius	263	▲ 6
100	Virgil	258	▼ 7

Top 100 girl names, 1908
Rank	Name	Babies	Change
1	Mary	18,665	–
2	Helen	8,439	–
3	Margaret	6,976	–
4	Ruth	6,180	▲ 1
5	Anna	5,860	▼ 1
6	Dorothy	5,703	–
7	Elizabeth	4,904	–
8	Mildred	4,624	–
9	Alice	4,270	–
10	Marie	4,076	–
11	Florence	3,883	–
12	Ethel	3,786	–
13	Lillian	3,634	–
14	Frances	3,593	▲ 2
15	Gladys	3,580	▼ 1
16	Rose	3,382	▲ 1
17	Edna	3,365	▼ 2
18	Louise	2,937	▲ 3
19	Grace	2,901	▲ 1
20	Evelyn	2,857	▼ 2
21	Annie	2,820	▼ 2
22	Catherine	2,750	▲ 3
23	Irene	2,732	▼ 1
24	Hazel	2,698	▼ 1
25	Gertrude	2,562	▼ 1
26	Thelma	2,526	▲ 2
27	Edith	2,410	▲ 5
28	Josephine	2,389	▲ 5
29	Bertha	2,384	▼ 3
30	Emma	2,357	▼ 3
31	Clara	2,352	▼ 2
32	Martha	2,324	▼ 1
33	Ruby	2,229	▲ 1
34	Bessie	2,201	▼ 4
35	Virginia	2,195	▲ 6
36	Esther	2,187	▲ 1
37	Mabel	2,096	▼ 1
38	Lucille	2,080	▲ 7
39	Pearl	2,075	▼ 4
40	Beatrice	1,997	▲ 4
41	Elsie	1,983	▲ 2
42	Viola	1,964	▲ 5
43	Ida	1,952	▼ 5
44	Myrtle	1,952	▼ 5
45	Agnes	1,934	▲ 1
46	Eva	1,930	▼ 4
47	Minnie	1,817	▼ 7
48	Sarah	1,814	–
49	Nellie	1,757	▲ 1
50	Julia	1,749	▼ 1
51	Pauline	1,702	▲ 1
52	Laura	1,558	▼ 1
53	Alma	1,474	▲ 5
54	Lillie	1,471	▼ 1
55	Katherine	1,430	–
56	Ella	1,428	▼ 2
57	Mae	1,384	–
58	Jessie	1,382	▲ 2
59	Willie	1,371	▼ 3
60	Mattie	1,364	▼ 1
61	Bernice	1,363	▲ 4
62	Ann	1,354	–
63	Marion	1,349	–
64	Lena	1,331	–
65	Eleanor	1,302	▲ 2
66	Carrie	1,239	▼ 5
67	Stella	1,216	▲ 3
68	Vera	1,204	▲ 1
69	Blanche	1,162	▼ 3
70	Doris	1,155	▲ 6
71	Hattie	1,137	–
72	Betty	1,128	▲ 5
73	Leona	1,118	▼ 1
74	Lucy	1,118	▼ 6
75	Anne	1,088	▲ 4
76	Fannie	1,085	▼ 2
77	Kathryn	1,058	▲ 11
78	Jennie	1,038	–
79	Mamie	1,028	▼ 4
80	Lois	1,023	▲ 5
81	Violet	1,017	–
82	Beulah	1,015	▼ 9
83	Cora	962	▼ 3
84	Opal	955	▲ 2
85	Marjorie	942	▲ 8
86	Rosa	941	▼ 4
87	Ada	922	▼ 4
88	Marguerite	913	▼ 1
89	Lula	892	▼ 5
90	Velma	860	–
91	Jean	852	▲ 5
92	Ellen	848	▼ 3
93	Dora	806	▲ 1
94	Theresa	795	▲ 5
95	Maggie	772	▼ 4
96	Sadie	770	▼ 1
97	Georgia	768	▼ 5
98	Charlotte	766	▲ 7
99	Daisy	765	▼ 1
100	Inez	757	▲ 2

Source: US Social Security Administration baby name data, 1908. 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.