Popular Names of 1897

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1897, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025. Hazel peaked among human females this year, at 18th.

Table 1. Female names, 1897
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	13,413	125
2	Anna	5,429	107
3	Helen	4,519	462
4	Margaret	4,146	112
5	Ruth	3,878	173
6	Elizabeth	3,442	17
7	Florence	3,369	391
8	Ethel	3,182	4,211
9	Marie	3,078	618
10	Emma	2,698	3
11	Lillian	2,683	57
12	Edna	2,567	2,463
13	Bertha	2,502	4,569
14	Grace	2,458	38
15	Clara	2,454	63
16	Alice	2,431	65
17	Bessie	2,407	6,889
18	Hazel	2,339	21
19	Rose	2,316	114
20	Annie	2,307	182

Table 2. Male names, 1897
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	7,550	23
2	William	7,198	9
3	James	5,113	6
4	George	4,078	126
5	Charles	3,341	48
6	Joseph	2,827	29
7	Frank	2,726	514
8	Robert	2,701	92
9	Edward	2,121	224
10	Henry	1,994	5
11	Thomas	1,980	34
12	Walter	1,895	252
13	Harry	1,879	775
14	Arthur	1,647	87
15	Albert	1,377	614
16	Fred	1,301	1,936
17	Clarence	1,201	1,500
18	Willie	1,151	1,322
19	Roy	999	525
20	Paul	923	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.