Popular Names of 1885

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1885, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Bartholomew peaked among human males this year, at 481st.

Table 1. Female names, 1885
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	9,128	125
2	Anna	3,994	107
3	Emma	2,728	3
4	Elizabeth	2,582	17
5	Margaret	2,204	112
6	Minnie	2,178	3,060
7	Clara	1,910	63
8	Bertha	1,860	4,569
9	Ida	1,854	1,120
10	Annie	1,703	182
11	Alice	1,681	65
12	Florence	1,667	391
13	Bessie	1,588	6,889
14	Grace	1,575	38
15	Ethel	1,495	4,211
16	Nellie	1,432	533
17	Martha	1,425	713
18	Sarah	1,424	90
19	Ella	1,395	29
20	Mabel	1,349	201

Table 2. Male names, 1885
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	8,756	23
2	William	8,044	9
3	James	5,175	6
4	George	4,674	126
5	Charles	4,599	48
6	Frank	3,067	514
7	Joseph	2,540	29
8	Henry	2,406	5
9	Robert	2,322	92
10	Thomas	2,266	34
11	Edward	2,220	224
12	Harry	2,198	775
13	Walter	1,808	252
14	Fred	1,562	1,936
15	Arthur	1,516	87
16	Albert	1,429	614
17	Clarence	906	1,500
18	Samuel	888	18
19	Louis	809	249
20	Grover	768	4,298

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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.