Popular Names of 1886

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1886, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1886
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	9,889	125
2	Anna	4,283	107
3	Emma	2,764	3
4	Elizabeth	2,680	17
5	Minnie	2,372	3,060
6	Margaret	2,275	112
7	Ida	2,049	1,120
8	Bertha	2,001	4,569
9	Clara	1,916	63
10	Florence	1,860	391
11	Alice	1,811	65
12	Bessie	1,791	6,889
13	Annie	1,765	182
14	Grace	1,723	38
15	Ethel	1,699	4,211
16	Sarah	1,569	90
17	Nellie	1,492	533
18	Martha	1,491	713
19	Ella	1,464	29
20	Mabel	1,422	201

Table 2. Male names, 1886
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	9,026	23
2	William	8,252	9
3	James	5,355	6
4	George	4,671	126
5	Charles	4,533	48
6	Frank	3,127	514
7	Joseph	2,594	29
8	Robert	2,443	92
9	Henry	2,404	5
10	Thomas	2,337	34
11	Edward	2,312	224
12	Harry	2,257	775
13	Walter	1,880	252
14	Arthur	1,656	87
15	Fred	1,599	1,936
16	Albert	1,488	614
17	Clarence	995	1,500
18	Samuel	870	18
19	Louis	846	249
20	Roy	767	525

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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.