babynamepicker

Girl Names of the 1880s

The 100 most common girl names given in the United States during the 1880s, by the number of children recorded with each name across those years.

All 100 names

  1. Mary 91,668
  2. Anna 38,159
  3. Emma 25,404
  4. Elizabeth 25,006
  5. Margaret 21,799
  6. Minnie 21,724
  7. Ida 18,283
  8. Bertha 18,263
  9. Clara 17,717
  10. Alice 17,142
  11. Annie 17,027
  12. Florence 16,699
  13. Bessie 15,373
  14. Grace 15,227
  15. Ethel 14,866
  16. Sarah 14,715
  17. Ella 13,936
  18. Martha 13,911
  19. Nellie 13,761
  20. Mabel 13,096
  21. Laura 12,806
  22. Carrie 12,514
  23. Cora 11,954
  24. Helen 11,496
  25. Maude 11,454
  26. Lillian 11,270
  27. Gertrude 11,100
  28. Rose 11,064
  29. Edna 11,020
  30. Pearl 10,903
  31. Edith 10,881
  32. Jennie 10,220
  33. Hattie 10,199
  34. Mattie 9,844
  35. Eva 9,800
  36. Julia 9,800
  37. Myrtle 9,769
  38. Louise 9,596
  39. Lillie 9,467
  40. Jessie 9,187
  41. Frances 9,182
  42. Catherine 8,915
  43. Lula 8,882
  44. Lena 8,691
  45. Marie 8,490
  46. Ada 8,423
  47. Josephine 7,732
  48. Fannie 7,527
  49. Lucy 7,520
  50. Dora 7,288
  51. Agnes 7,237
  52. Maggie 7,072
  53. Blanche 6,925
  54. Katherine 6,922
  55. Elsie 6,648
  56. Nora 6,521
  57. Mamie 6,330
  58. Rosa 6,157
  59. Stella 6,130
  60. Daisy 6,054
  61. May 5,881
  62. Effie 5,850
  63. Mae 5,647
  64. Ellen 5,402
  65. Nettie 5,313
  66. Ruth 5,298
  67. Alma 5,190
  68. Della 5,048
  69. Lizzie 5,035
  70. Sadie 4,915
  71. Sallie 4,840
  72. Nancy 4,792
  73. Susie 4,780
  74. Maud 4,201
  75. Flora 4,195
  76. Irene 4,002
  77. Etta 3,973
  78. Katie 3,907
  79. Lydia 3,902
  80. Lottie 3,888
  81. Viola 3,806
  82. Caroline 3,743
  83. Addie 3,739
  84. Hazel 3,644
  85. Georgia 3,540
  86. Esther 3,476
  87. Mollie 3,471
  88. Olive 3,456
  89. Willie 3,397
  90. Harriet 3,369
  91. Emily 3,368
  92. Charlotte 3,311
  93. Amanda 3,280
  94. Kathryn 3,276
  95. Lulu 3,253
  96. Susan 3,231
  97. Kate 3,194
  98. Nannie 3,165
  99. Jane 2,971
  100. Amelia 2,957

How 1880s girl names compare

Mary was the most common girl name of the 1880s, given to 91,668 girls across those years, with Anna, Emma, Elizabeth and Margaret behind it. The hundredth name on the list, Amelia, accounts for 2,957. Between them the hundred names cover 970,472 births. Mary was number one in every one of those ten years.

21 are still in the 2025 top 100 — Emma, Elizabeth, Clara, Alice, Grace, Sarah, Ella and Lillian, among others — and 49 are inside the top 500. Two names were not recorded at all in 2025, which in this file means fewer than five children were given them.

Those hundred names cover 73.9% of all girls born in the 1880s — 970,472 of 1,312,690 — and Mary alone accounts for 7.0% of them. The hundred most common names of 2025 take 31.5% between them, so naming has spread wider since. The file itself starts in 1880, so there is nothing before this decade to measure it against.

Questions about 1880s girl names

What was the most popular girl name of the 1880s?

Mary, given to 91,668 girls across those years. The next two were Anna and Emma.

Are 1880s girl names still used today?

21 of the hundred are in the 2025 top 100: Emma, Elizabeth, Clara, Alice, Grace, Sarah, Ella and Lillian, among others.