Popular Names of 1896

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1896, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Agnes peaked among human females this year, at 38th.

Table 1. Female names, 1896
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	13,811	125
2	Anna	5,860	107
3	Helen	4,392	462
4	Margaret	4,050	112
5	Ruth	3,905	173
6	Ethel	3,502	4,211
7	Elizabeth	3,471	17
8	Florence	3,323	391
9	Marie	3,087	618
10	Emma	2,872	3
11	Lillian	2,702	57
12	Alice	2,651	65
13	Edna	2,604	2,463
14	Clara	2,582	63
15	Bertha	2,565	4,569
16	Minnie	2,530	3,060
17	Grace	2,485	38
18	Bessie	2,435	6,889
19	Annie	2,358	182
20	Rose	2,341	114

Table 2. Male names, 1896
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	8,138	23
2	William	7,747	9
3	James	5,206	6
4	George	4,286	126
5	Charles	3,639	48
6	Joseph	3,051	29
7	Frank	2,845	514
8	Robert	2,719	92
9	Edward	2,296	224
10	Henry	2,183	5
11	Harry	2,091	775
12	Thomas	2,088	34
13	Walter	2,017	252
14	Arthur	1,821	87
15	Albert	1,434	614
16	Fred	1,393	1,936
17	Clarence	1,254	1,500
18	Willie	1,092	1,322
19	Roy	1,027	525
20	Paul	964	262

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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.