Popular Names of 1899

The 20 most popular names given to female and to male babies born in 1899, as recorded, with each name’s rank in 2025.

Table 1. Female names, 1899
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	Mary	13,172	125
2	Anna	5,115	107
3	Helen	5,048	462
4	Margaret	4,249	112
5	Ruth	3,912	173
6	Florence	3,314	391
7	Elizabeth	3,287	17
8	Marie	3,156	618
9	Ethel	2,999	4,211
10	Lillian	2,703	57
11	Edna	2,534	2,463
12	Alice	2,523	65
13	Emma	2,445	3
14	Clara	2,441	63
15	Grace	2,353	38
16	Bertha	2,294	4,569
17	Mildred	2,291	1,973
18	Annie	2,289	182
19	Bessie	2,280	6,889
20	Gladys	2,228	3,224

Table 2. Male names, 1899
Rank	Name	Number	Rank in 2025
1	John	6,990	23
2	William	6,086	9
3	James	4,597	6
4	George	4,018	126
5	Charles	3,147	48
6	Joseph	2,679	29
7	Robert	2,609	92
8	Frank	2,550	514
9	Edward	1,901	224
10	Henry	1,831	5
11	Thomas	1,811	34
12	Walter	1,750	252
13	Harry	1,732	775
14	Arthur	1,357	87
15	Albert	1,210	614
16	Fred	1,182	1,936
17	Clarence	1,139	1,500
18	Willie	1,088	1,322
19	Harold	914	993
20	Roy	912	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.