Popular Names of 1881

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1881, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1881
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	6,919	125
2	Anna	2,698	107
3	Emma	2,034	3
4	Elizabeth	1,852	17
5	Margaret	1,658	112
6	Minnie	1,653	3,060
7	Ida	1,439	1,120
8	Annie	1,326	182
9	Bertha	1,324	4,569
10	Alice	1,308	65
11	Clara	1,242	63
12	Sarah	1,226	90
13	Ella	1,148	29
14	Nellie	1,096	533
15	Grace	1,089	38
16	Florence	1,046	391
17	Martha	1,044	713
18	Cora	969	113
19	Laura	962	379
20	Carrie	958	2,726

Table 2. Male names, 1881
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	8,768	23
2	William	8,524	9
3	James	5,441	6
4	George	4,664	126
5	Charles	4,636	48
6	Frank	2,834	514
7	Joseph	2,456	29
8	Henry	2,339	5
9	Thomas	2,282	34
10	Edward	2,177	224
11	Robert	2,140	92
12	Harry	2,002	775
13	Walter	1,670	252
14	Arthur	1,575	87
15	Fred	1,418	1,936
16	Albert	1,319	614
17	Samuel	919	18
18	David	750	35
19	Louis	746	249
20	Charlie	668	145

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As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.