Popular Names of 1888

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1888, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1888
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	11,754	125
2	Anna	4,982	107
3	Elizabeth	3,224	17
4	Emma	3,087	3
5	Margaret	2,904	112
6	Minnie	2,654	3,060
7	Bertha	2,450	4,569
8	Florence	2,444	391
9	Ethel	2,374	4,211
10	Bessie	2,278	6,889
11	Clara	2,230	63
12	Ida	2,229	1,120
13	Alice	2,202	65
14	Annie	2,188	182
15	Grace	2,090	38
16	Helen	1,847	462
17	Mabel	1,830	201
18	Ella	1,774	29
19	Martha	1,769	713
20	Sarah	1,755	90

Table 2. Male names, 1888
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	9,247	23
2	William	8,705	9
3	James	5,562	6
4	George	4,912	126
5	Charles	4,591	48
6	Frank	3,459	514
7	Joseph	2,993	29
8	Robert	2,814	92
9	Harry	2,759	775
10	Henry	2,596	5
11	Edward	2,470	224
12	Thomas	2,449	34
13	Walter	2,040	252
14	Arthur	1,710	87
15	Fred	1,665	1,936
16	Albert	1,569	614
17	Clarence	1,022	1,500
18	Samuel	931	18
19	Louis	884	249
20	Roy	856	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.